Information generation device, information reproduction device, and information recording device

ABSTRACT

An information distribution system is provided which can distribute a movie and so on while restricting the copying of information more widely and properly in the case where the information such as a movie is distributed via a network and so on.  
     Change copy control information (XCI 1,  XCI 2,  XXI 1,  and XXI 2 ) and normal copy control information (CCI 1  and CCI 2 ) are superimposed on reproduced information and are distributed. The change copy control information is used when a changing operation for changing the quality of reproduced information is performed, and the normal copy control information is used when the changing operation is not performed.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present application relates to a technical field including aninformation generating apparatus, an information reproducing apparatus,and an information recording apparatus and specifically relates to atechnical field including an information generating apparatus forgenerating information to be distributed or delivered via airwaves or arecording medium such as an optical disc, an information reproducingapparatus for reproducing the distributed or delivered information, andan information recording apparatus for recording the distributed ordelivered information on another recording medium.

BACKGROUND ART

In recent years, so-called DVDs (Digital Versatile Discs) have becomewidespread which are several times larger in recording capacity thanconventional CDs (Compact Discs). Since the DVD has such a largerecording capacity, moving image information of one movie and thecorresponding sound information can be recorded on the DVD.

Movies and so on which can be recorded on the DVD are generallyprotected by so-called copyright. To be specific, for example, thepermissible number of stages of copying on other recording media (thatis, for example, a movie and so on are legally copied and recorded froma playback only DVD to a recordable DVD, and are copied and recordedrepeatedly from the DVD where the movie and so on have been copied andrecorded once) is determined beforehand in many cases. A player or thelike for reproducing the movie and so on from the DVD is configured sothat the movie and so on cannot be reproduced from the DVD when thenumber of times of copying exceeds the predetermined number ofcopying/recording stages.

A specific solution for preventing copying/recording in more than thepredetermined number of stages is described below. For example, in thecase of a movie and so on which can be legally copied and recorded onlyonce from a playback only DVD, copy control information (may begenerally referred to as CCI information), which indicates that copyingcan be performed only once, is protected against tampering (e.g.,so-called watermarking) in a specific manner and is recorded on theplayback only DVD with recording information corresponding to the movieand so on. When the movie and soon are legally copied and recorded, thecontents of originally recorded copy control information are changedfrom “copy permitted only once (One More Copy)” to “copy and recordingprohibited (No More Copy)” along with copying and recording. Hence, evenif the movie and so on having been copied and recorded once are copiedand recorded in stages again, since the contents of copy controlinformation recorded on the DVD with the movie and so on indicates “copyprohibited”, reproduction for copying and recording the recordinginformation from the DVD becomes impossible, thereby preventing illegalcopying and recording.

Regarding copy control information recorded on conventional DVDs, onekind of movie and so on generally have only one kind of copy controlinformation. No matter whether the movie and so on are reproduced withdegraded picture quality or maintained picture quality duringreproduction, only one restrictive condition of copying is alwaysapplied to one kind of movie and so on.

As a channel for distributing movies and so on to viewers, a channel fordistribution in an electronic manner via a network such as the Internethas been developed in recent years in addition to a conventional methodof selling or lending playback only DVDs to the viewers. When movies andso on are delivered (distributed) via the network, various kinds ofpicture quality conversion are generally performed on a distributionchannel. Thus, it has become taken for granted that one movie isdistributed with two or more kinds of picture quality (or sound quality,hereinafter referred to as picture quality and so on).

In spite of the fact that movies and so on are distributed with kinds ofpicture quality via various channels, only one restrictive condition ofcopying is always applied to one kind of movie and so on in order toprevent illegal copying. Consequently, no matter whether the movie andso on are distributed with high picture quality or low picture quality,the distribution has to be made under the same restrictive condition ofcopying.

Due to this problem, the following distribution pattern cannot beobtained: for example, when a movie and so on are distributed with lowpicture quality, free copying is permitted to make the movie and so onwidely available to viewers, and when the movie and so on are generallyrecognized, the same movie and so on are distributed with high picturequality while a copying restriction is imposed. Consequently, the movieand so on cannot be effectively distributed.

DISCLOSURE OF THE INVENTION

The present application is devised in view of the problem. An example ofan object is to provide an information generating apparatus fordistributing a movie and so on while widely and properly restricting thecopying of information when distributing the information such as a movievia a network and so on, an information reproducing apparatus forreproducing the recorded information, and an information recordingapparatus for recording the distributed information on a recordingmedium.

In order to attain the example of the object, a first invention providesan information generating apparatus comprising adding means for addingchange copy control information and normal copy control information toan information signal, the change copy control information being usedwhen a changing operation for changing the quality of the informationsignal is performed, the normal copy control information being used whenthe changing operation is not performed.

According to the first invention, the change copy control informationand the normal copy control information are added to the informationsignal. Thus, it is possible to change the contents of the subsequentcopying restriction according to the presence or absence of a change inquality and so on when the information signal is demodulated orrecorded, thereby effectively protecting the copyright of theinformation signal.

Another preferred embodiment of the first invention is characterized inthat the changing operation is quality degradation for degrading thequality of the information signal.

According to this embodiment, since the changing operation is qualitydegradation for degrading the quality of the information signal, it ispossible to change the contents of the subsequent copying restrictionaccording to the presence or absence of degradation of quality and so onduring the demodulation or recording of the information signal, therebyeffectively protecting the copyright of the information signal.

Still another preferred embodiment of the first invention ischaracterized in that the information signal includes at least imageinformation, and the changing operation is enlargement for scaling up animage corresponding to the image information or a reduction for scalingdown the image.

According to this embodiment, the information signal includes at leastimage information and the changing operation is enlargement for scalingup an image corresponding to the image information or a reduction forscaling down the image. Thus, it is possible to change the contents ofthe subsequent copying restriction according to the presence or absenceof enlargement or a reduction the image during the demodulation orrecording of the information signal including the image information,thereby effectively protecting the copyright of the image information.

Further, a preferred embodiment of the first invention is characterizedin that the changing operation is enlargement for scaling up an imagecorresponding to the image information or a reduction for scaling downthe image and superimposition of another image information on the imageinformation having been subjected to enlargement or a reduction.

According to this embodiment, the changing operation is enlargement forscaling up an image corresponding to the image information or areduction for scaling down the image and superimposition of anotherimage information on the image information having been subjected toenlargement or a reduction. Thus, it is possible to change the contentsof the subsequent copying restriction according to the presence orabsence of enlargement or a reduction of the image and superimpositionof another image during the demodulation or recording of the informationsignal including the image information, thereby effectively protectingthe copyright of the image information.

Another preferred embodiment of the present invention is characterizedin that the changing operation is superimposition of advertisementinformation on the information signal.

According to this embodiment, since the changing operation issuperimposition of advertisement information on the information signal,it is possible to change the contents of the subsequent copyingrestriction according to the presence or absence of superimposition ofadvertisement information during the demodulation or recording of theinformation signal, thereby effectively protecting the copyright of theimage information.

Still another embodiment of the first invention is characterized in thatthe changing operation is a reducing operation for reducing an amount ofdata of the information signal.

According to this operation, since the changing operation is a reducingoperation for reducing an amount of data of the information signal, itis possible to change the contents of the subsequent copying restrictionaccording to the presence or absence of the reducing operation duringthe demodulation or recording of the information signal, therebyeffectively protecting the copyright of the image information.

Further, a preferred embodiment of the first invention is characterizedin that the change copy control information includes restrictiveconditions for copying, the conditions being more moderate thanrestrictive conditions for copying of the normal copy controlinformation.

According to this embodiment, the change copy control informationincludes restrictive conditions for copying, the conditions being moremoderate than restrictive conditions for copying of the normal copycontrol information. Thus, it is possible to make moderate the contentsof the subsequent copying restriction according to the presence orabsence of a change in quality and so on during the demodulation orrecording of the information signal, thereby effectively protecting thecopyright of the information signal.

Another preferred embodiment of the first invention is characterized inthat the adding means embeds the change copy control information and thenormal copy control information in the information signal by usingdigital watermarking.

According to this embodiment, the change copy control information andthe normal copy control information are embedded in the informationsignal by using digital watermarking. Thus, it is possible to makedifficult illegal acquisition of the change copy control information andthe normal copy control information, thereby effectively protecting thecopyright of the information signal.

In order to attain the example of the object, a second inventionprovides an information reproducing apparatus for reproducing aninformation signal, to which change copy control information and normalcopy control information are added, the change copy control informationbeing used when a changing operation for changing quality of theinformation signal is performed, the normal copy control informationbeing used when the changing operation is not performed, the apparatuscomprising: changing means for performing the changing operation, andsetting means for, when the changing operation is performed and theinformation signal is reproduced, setting copy control informationincluded in the reproduced information signal, the information being setas the contents of the change copy control information at a valueindicated the change copy control information.

According to the second invention, when the changing operation isperformed on the information signal, to which change copy controlinformation and normal copy control information are added, and theinformation signal is outputted, the copy control information includedin the reproduced information signal is set at a value indicated thechange copy control information. Thus, regarding the changed informationsignal, it is possible to effectively protect the copyright of theinformation signal.

A preferred embodiment of the second invention is characterized in thatwhen the information signal is reproduced without the changingoperation, the setting means sets, as the contents of the normal copycontrol information, the contents of the copy control informationincluded in the reproduced information signal.

According to this embodiment, when the information signal is reproducedwithout the changing operation, the contents of the copy controlinformation included in the reproduced information signal are set as thecontents of the normal copy control information. Regarding theinformation signal not being changed, it is possible to effectivelyprotect the copyright of the information signal.

In order to attain the example of the object, a third invention providesan information reproducing apparatus for reproducing an informationsignal added with change information indicating whether a changingoperation for changing quality of the information signal is performed ornot, change copy control information being used when the changingoperation is performed and normal copy control information being usedwhen the changing operation is not performed, the reproducing apparatus,comprising: detecting means for detecting the change information,deciding means for deciding whether the quality is changed or notaccording to the detected change information, and setting means forsetting, when the quality is changed, the contents of copy controlinformation included in the reproduced information signal at a valueindicated the change copy control information.

According to the third invention, when the information signal added withchange information, change copy control information and normal copycontrol information is changed and reproduced, the contents of the copycontrol information included in the reproduced information signal areset at a value indicated the change copy control information. Thus,regarding the changed information signal, it is possible to effectivelyprotect the copyright of the information signal.

In order to attain the example of the object, a fourth inventionprovides an information recording apparatus for recording an informationsignal, to which change copy control information and normal copy controlinformation are added, the change copy control information being usedwhen a changing operation for changing quality of the information signalis performed, the normal copy control information being used when thechanging operation is not performed, on an information recording medium,the recording apparatus, comprising: changing means for performing thechanging operation, selecting means for selecting a kind of the changingoperation capable of recording the information signal on the recordingmedium, and recording means for recording the information signal on therecording medium, the information signal having been changed in qualityby the selected changing operation.

According to the fourth invention, a kind of the changing operationcapable of recording the information signal, to which change copycontrol information and normal copy control information are added, isselected and the information signal having been changed in quality bythe selected changing operation is recorded on the recording medium.Thus, it is possible to effectively protect the copyright of theinformation signal.

In order to attain the example of the object, a fifth invention providesan information recording apparatus for recording an information signal,to which change copy control information and normal copy controlinformation are added, the change copy control information being usedwhen a changing operation for changing quality of the information signalis performed, the normal copy control information being used when thechanging operation is not performed, on a recording medium, therecording apparatus, comprising: changing means for performing thechanging operation, first recording means for recording the informationsignal changed in quality on the recording medium, and second recordingmeans for recording change information on the recording medium, thechange information indicating that the quality of the information signalis changed.

According to the fifth invention, the change information can be recordedon the recording medium with the changed information signal. Thus,during the reproduction of the recording medium, it is decided whetherthe quality is changed or not according to the contents of the changeinformation, and it is possible to set copy control information includedin the reproduced information signal, based on the decision result, at avalue indicated the change copy control information, thereby effectivelyprotecting the copyright of the information signal changed in quality.

In order to attain the example of the object, a sixth invention providesan information generating method comprising an adding step of addingchange copy control information and normal copy control information tothe information signal, the change copy control information being usedwhen a changing operation for changing the quality of the informationsignal is performed, the normal copy control information being used whenthe changing operation is not performed.

According to the sixth invention, the change copy control informationand the normal copy control information are added to the informationsignal. Thus, it is possible to change the contents of the subsequentcopying restriction according to the presence or absence of a change inquality and so on when the information signal is demodulated orrecorded, thereby effectively protecting the copyright of theinformation signal.

In order to attain the example of the object, a seventh inventionprovides an information reproducing method for reproducing aninformation signal, to which change copy control information and normalcopy control information are added, the change copy control informationbeing used when a changing operation for changing quality of theinformation signal is performed, the normal copy control informationbeing used when the changing operation is not performed, the methodcomprising: a changing step of performing the changing operation, and asetting step of, when the changing operation is performed and theinformation signal is reproduced, setting copy control informationincluded in the reproduced information signal at a value indicated thechange copy control information.

According to the seventh invention, when the changing operation isperformed on the information signal, to which change copy controlinformation and normal copy control information are added, and theinformation signal is outputted, the copy control information includedin the reproduced information signal is set at a value indicated thechange copy control information. Thus, regarding the changed informationsignal, it is possible to effectively protect the copyright of theinformation signal.

In order to attain the example of the object, an eighth inventionprovides an information reproducing method for reproducing aninformation signal added with change information indicating whether achanging operation for changing quality of the information signal isperformed or not, change copy control information being used when thechanging operation is performed and normal copy control informationbeing used when the changing operation is not performed, the reproducingmethod, comprising: a detecting step of detecting the changeinformation, a deciding step of deciding whether the quality is changedor not according to the detected change information, and a setting stepof setting, when the quality is changed, the contents of copy controlinformation included in the reproduced information signal at a valueindicated the change copy control information.

According to the eighth invention, when the information signal addedwith change information, change copy control information and normal copycontrol information, is changed and reproduced, the contents of the copycontrol information included in the reproduced information signal areset at a value indicated the change copy control information. Thus,regarding the changed information signal, it is possible to effectivelyprotect the copyright of the information signal.

In order to attain the example of the object, a ninth invention providesan information recording method for recording an information signal, towhich change copy control information and normal copy controlinformation are added, the change copy control information being usedwhen a changing operation for changing quality of the information signalis performed, the normal copy control information being used when thechanging operation is not performed, on an information recording medium,the recording method, comprising: a changing step of performing thechanging operation, a selecting step of selecting a kind of the changingoperation capable of recording the information signal on the recordingmedium, and a recording step of recording the information signal on therecording medium, the information signal having been changed in qualityby the selected changing operation.

According to the ninth invention, a kind of the changing operationcapable of recording the information signal, to which change copycontrol information and normal copy control information are added, isselected and the information signal having been changed in quality bythe selected changing operation is recorded on the recording medium.Thus, it is possible to effectively protect the copyright of theinformation signal.

In order to attain the example of the object, a tenth invention providesan information recording method for recording an information signal, towhich change copy control information and normal copy controlinformation are added, the change copy control information being usedwhen a changing operation for changing quality of the information signalis performed, the normal copy control information being used when thechanging operation is not performed, on a recording medium, therecording method, comprising: a changing step of performing the changingoperation, a first recording step of recording the information signalchanged in quality on the recording medium, and a second recording stepof recording change information on the recording medium, the changeinformation indicating that the quality of the information signal ischanged.

According to the tenth invention, the change information can be recordedon the recording medium with the changed information signal. Thus,during the reproduction of the recording medium, it is decided whetherthe quality is changed or not according to the contents of the changeinformation, and it is possible to set copy control information includedin the reproduced information signal, based on the decision result, at avalue indicated the change copy control information, thereby effectivelyprotecting the copyright of the information signal changed in quality.

In order to attain the example of the object, an eleventh inventionprovides a copyright protecting method for protecting the copyright ofan information signal by adding, to the information signal, copy controlinformation for restricting the copying of the information signal, thecopy control information including change copy control information beingused when a changing operation for changing quality of the informationsignal is performed and normal copy control information being used whenthe changing operation is not performed.

According to the eleventh invention, the change copy control informationbeing used when a changing operation for changing quality of theinformation signal is performed and the normal copy control informationbeing used when the changing operation is not performed are includedwhich corresponds to the quality of the information signal. Thus,regarding two or more kinds of information signal with differentqualities, it is possible to effectively protect the copyright of eachinformation signal.

In order to attain the example of the object, a twelfth inventionprovides an information generating program for causing a generatingcomputer included in an information generating apparatus to act asadding means for adding change copy control information and normal copycontrol information to an information signal, the change copy controlinformation being used when a changing operation for changing thequality of the information signal is performed, the normal copy controlinformation being used when the changing operation is not performed.

According to the twelfth invention, the generating computer operates toadd the change copy control information and the normal copy controlinformation to the information signal. Thus, it is possible to changethe contents of the subsequent copying restriction according to thepresence of absence of a change in quality and soon when the informationsignal is demodulated or recorded, thereby effectively protecting thecopyright of the information signal.

In order to attain the example of the object, a thirteenth inventionprovides an information reproducing program for causing a reproducingcomputer included in an information reproducing apparatus forreproducing an information signal, to which change copy controlinformation and normal copy control information are added, the changecopy control information being used when a changing operation forchanging quality of the information signal is performed, the normal copycontrol information being used when the changing operation is notperformed, to act as changing means for performing the changingoperation, and setting means for, when the changing operation isperformed and the information signal is reproduced, setting copy controlinformation included in the reproduced information signal at a valueindicated the change copy control information.

According to the thirteenth invention, when the changing operation isperformed on the information signal, to which change copy controlinformation and normal copy control information are added, and theinformation signal is outputted, the reproducing computer operates toset the copy control information included in the reproduced informationsignal at a value indicated the change copy control information. Thus,regarding the changed information signal, it is possible to effectivelyprotect the copyright of the information signal.

In order to attain the example of the object, a fourteenth inventionprovides an information reproducing program for a reproducing computerincluded in an information reproducing apparatus for reproducing aninformation signal added with change information indicating whether achanging operation for changing is performed or not, change copy controlinformation being used when the changing operation is performed andnormal copy control information being used when the changing operationis not performed, the reproducing program causing the reproducingapparatus to act as: detecting means for detecting the changeinformation, deciding means for deciding whether the quality is changedor not according to the detected change information, and setting meansfor setting, when the quality is changed, copy control informationincluded in the reproduced information signal at a value indicated thechange copy control information.

According to the fourteenth invention, when the information signal addedwith change information, change copy control information and normal copycontrol information, is changed and reproduced, the reproducing computeroperates to set the copy control information included in the reproducedinformation signal at a value indicated the change copy controlinformation. Thus, regarding the changed information signal, it ispossible to effectively protect the copyright of the information signal.

In order to attain the example of the object, a fifteenth inventionprovides an information recording program for a recording computerincluded in an information recording apparatus for recording aninformation signal, to which change copy control information and normalcopy control information are added, the change copy control informationbeing used when a changing operation for changing quality of theinformation signal is performed, the normal copy control informationbeing used when the changing operation is not performed, on aninformation recording medium, the recording program causing therecording computer to act as: changing means for performing the changingoperation, selecting means for selecting a kind of the changingoperation capable of recording the information signal on the recordingmedium, and recording means for recording the information signal on therecording medium, the information signal having been changed in qualityby the selected changing operation.

According to the fifteenth invention, the recording computer operates sothat a kind of the changing operation capable of recording theinformation signal, to which change copy control information and normalcopy control information are added, is selected and the informationsignal having been changed in quality is recorded by the selectedchanging operation on the recording medium. Thus, it is possible toeffectively protect the copyright of the information signal.

In order to attain the example of the object, a sixteenth inventionprovides an information recording program for a recording computerincluded in an information recording apparatus for recording aninformation signal, to which change copy control information and normalcopy control information are added, the change copy control informationbeing used when a changing operation for changing quality of theinformation signal is performed, the normal copy control informationbeing used when the changing operation is not performed, on a recordingmedium, the recording program causing the recording computer to act as:changing means for performing the changing operation, first recordingmeans for recording the information signal changed in quality on therecording medium, and second recording means for recording changeinformation on the recording medium, the change information indicatingthat the quality of the information signal is changed.

According to the sixteenth invention, the recording computer operates sothat the change information can be recorded on the recording medium withthe changed information signal. Thus, during the reproduction of therecording medium, it is decided whether the quality is changed or notaccording to the contents of the change information, and it is possibleto set copy control information included in the reproduced informationsignal, based on the decision result, at a value indicated the changecopy control information, thereby effectively protecting the copyrightof the information signal changed in quality.

In order to attain the example of the object, a seventeenth inventionprovides an information recording medium where the informationgenerating program of the twelfth invention is recorded so that theprogram is read by the generating computer.

According to the seventeenth invention, since the information generatingprogram is read and executed by the generating computer, the generatingcomputer so operates as to add the change copy control information andthe normal copy control information to the information signal. Thus, itis possible to change the contents of the subsequent copying restrictionaccording to the presence or absence of a change in quality and so onwhen the information signal is demodulated or recorded, therebyeffectively protecting the copyright of the information signal.

In order to attain the example of the object, an eighteenth inventionprovides an information recording medium where the informationreproducing program of the thirteenth or fourteenth invention isrecorded so that the program is read by the reproducing computer.

According to the eighteenth invention, when the information reproducingprogram of the thirteenth invention is recorded, the informationreproducing program is read and executed by the reproducing computer andthus when the information signal is changed and reproduced, thereproducing computer operates so that the copy control informationincluded in the reproduced information signal is set at a value usedwhen the changing operation is performed, thereby effectively protectingthe copyright of the changed information signal.

Further, when the information reproducing program of the fourteenthinvention is recorded, the information reproducing program is read andexecuted by the reproducing computer and thus when the informationsignal is changed and reproduced, the reproducing computer operates sothat the copy control information included in the reproduced informationsignal is set at a value used when the changing operation is performed,thereby effectively protecting the copyright of the changed informationsignal.

In order to attain the example of the object, a nineteenth inventionprovides an information recording medium where the informationreproducing program of the fifteenth or sixteenth invention is recordedso that the program is read by the recording computer.

According to the nineteenth invention, when the information recordingprogram of the fifteenth invention is recorded, the informationrecording program is read and executed by the recording computer. Thus,the recording computer operates so that a kind of the changing operationcapable of recording an information signal is selected and theinformation signal changed in quality by the selected changing operationis recorded on the recording medium, thereby effectively protecting thecopyright of the information signal.

Further, when the information recording program of the sixteenthinvention is recorded, the information recording program is read andexecuted by the reproducing computer and thus the recording computeroperates so that the change information is recorded on the recordingmedium with the changed information signal. Thus, during thereproduction of the recording medium, it is decided whether the qualityis changed or not according to the contents of the change information.When the quality is changed, it is possible to set copy controlinformation included in the reproduced information signal at a valueused when the contents of the copy control information are changed,thereby effectively protecting the copyright of the information signalchanged in quality.

In order to attain the example of the object, a twentieth inventionprovides a recording medium comprising an information recording area forrecording an information signal added with change copy controlinformation used when a changing operation for changing the quality ofthe information signal is performed and normal copy control informationused when the changing operation is not performed.

According to the twentieth invention, the information signal is recordedwhich is added with the change copy control information and the normalcopy control information. Thus, it is possible to change the contents ofthe subsequent copying restriction according to the presence or absenceof a change in quality and so on when the information signal isdemodulated or recorded, thereby effectively protecting the copyright ofthe information signal.

In order to attain the example of the object, a twenty first inventionprovides a recording medium comprising an information recording area forrecording an information signal added with change information indicatingwhether the quality of the information signal is changed or not.

According to the twenty first invention, the change information isrecorded on the recording medium. Thus, during the reproduction of therecording medium, it is decided whether the quality is changed or notaccording to the contents of the change information. When the quality ischanged, it is possible to set copy control information included in thereproduced information signal at a value used when the contents of thecopy control information are changed, thereby effectively protecting thecopyright of the information signal changed in quality.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a recording format of information on a DVDaccording to Embodiment 1;

FIG. 2 is a diagram (I) showing the specific contents of informationrecorded on the DVD of Embodiment 1;

FIG. 2(a) is a diagram showing the specific contents of a firstinformation table;

FIG. 2(b) is a chart showing a comparison of the contents of copycontrol information before and after conversion;

FIG. 2(c) is a diagram showing the specific contents of a secondinformation table;

FIG. 3 is a diagram (II) showing the specific contents of informationrecorded on the DVD of Embodiment 1;

FIG. 3(a) is a diagram (I) showing the specific contents of copy controlinformation;

FIG. 3(b) is a diagram (II) showing the specific contents of copycontrol information;

FIG. 4 is a diagram (III) showing the specific contents of informationrecorded on the DVD of Embodiment 1;

FIG. 4 (a) is a diagram (I) showing the specific contents of postconversion copy control information;

FIG. 4(b) is a diagram (II) showing the specific contents of postconversion copy control information;

FIG. 4(c) is a diagram (III) showing the specific contents of postconversion copy control information;

FIG. 4(d) is a diagram (IV) showing the specific contents of postconversion copy control information;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of aninformation reproducing apparatus according to Embodiment 1;

FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing reproduction performed in the informationreproducing apparatus according to Embodiment 1;

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of aninformation transmission system according to Embodiment 2;

FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of a videotransmitter according to Embodiment 2;

FIG. 9 is a diagram showing a format of recording informationtransmitted in the information transmission system of Embodiment 2;

FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the specific contents of recordinginformation according to Embodiment 2;

FIG. 10(a) is a diagram (I) showing specific contents;

FIG. 10(b) is a diagram (II) showing specific contents;

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of aset-top box according to Embodiment 2;

FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing a receiving operation according toEmbodiment 2;

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of arecorder according to Embodiment 2;

FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing a recording operation according toEmbodiment 2;

FIG. 15 is a diagram showing the specific contents of recordinginformation according to Embodiment 3;

FIG. 15(a) is a diagram (I) showing the specific contents of a subinformation table;

FIG. 15(b) is a diagram (II) showing the specific contents of a subinformation table;

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing information reproduction according toEmbodiment 4;

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the specific contents of informationrecorded on a DVD according to Embodiment 5;

FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of arecorder according to Embodiment 5;

FIG. 19 is a flowchart showing a recording operation in the recorderaccording to Embodiment 5;

FIG. 20 is a flowchart showing a recording operation in a recorderaccording to Embodiment 6;

FIG. 21 is a flowchart showing reproduction in a DVD player according toEmbodiment 6; and

FIG. 22 is a flowchart showing reproduction in a DVD player according toEmbodiment 7.

BEST MODE FOR CARRYING OUT THE INVENTION

Preferred embodiments of the present invention will be described belowin accordance with the accompanying drawings.

In the embodiments below, the present invention is applied to aninformation transmission system for distributing or deliveringinformation which is subjected to conversion, in which picture qualityand so on are changed (degraded) during reproduction performed by aninformation reproducing apparatus and so on at the destination. Theinformation includes a movie which is recorded on a DVD and distributed,or delivered via airwaves or a network such as the Internet.

(I) Embodiment 1

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 6, the following will first describe Embodiment1, in which the present invention is applied to the above reproductionrestriction and so on during the distribution of a playback only DVDwhere information is recorded.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing a recording pattern of information on a DVDaccording to Embodiment 1. FIGS. 2 to 4 are diagrams showing thespecific contents of information recorded on the DVD. FIG. 5 is a blockdiagram showing the schematic configuration of an informationreproducing apparatus (DVD player) for reproducing information recordedon the DVD. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing reproduction performed in theDVD player.

Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, the following will first describe therecording format of information recorded on the playback only DVDaccording to Embodiment 1.

The following explanation is premised on that information is recorded onthe DVD of Embodiment 1, the information indicating countries or regionswhere the information recorded on the DVD can be reproduced (hereinafterthe information which is recorded on the DVD and indicates the countriesor regions will be referred to as disc region information).

As shown in the uppermost part of FIG. 1, a playback only DVD 1 ofEmbodiment 1 is constituted of, from the inner edge, an unrecorded areaNA where no information is recorded, a lead-in area LI for recordingcontrol information and so on to be first read upon reproduction ofrecording information recorded in a recording area UD (described later),the recording area UD for recording the recording information to beactually reproduced, the recording information being encrypted as willbe described later, and a lead-out area LO for recording end informationand so on to be read at the completion of the reproduction of therecording information.

Further, the recording area UD is constituted of, from the inner edge,file system information area FA for recording file system informationand so on indicating an information hierarchical structure of therecording information to be reproduced, a navigation information area NVfor recording so-called navigation information (specifically includingorder information indicating the order in which pieces constituting therecording information are reproduced, and address information indicatingthe recording positions of the pieces of the recording information onthe DVD 1) for controlling a reproduction pattern of the recordinginformation, and a recording information area DT for recording therecording information to be reproduced.

The following will specifically describe a recording pattern of therecording information according to Embodiment 1.

First, as shown in the second uppermost part of FIG. 1, the recordinginformation includes one or more pieces of video information VD, whichis an image sequence of two or more static images, and audio informationAD including only voice information or sound information. The videoinformation VD is constituted of two or more pieces of sectorinformation ST.

In this case, as shown in the third uppermost part of FIG. 1, one pieceof the sector information ST is constituted of, from the start,identification information ID including a sector information number foridentifying the sector information ST including the identificationinformation ID in the video information VD, correction information FTincluding an error correction code for correcting an error in thedetection of the identification information ID, copy control informationIF for restricting the number of times of copying when image informationrecorded in the sector information ST is copied after reproduction, andimage information DA to be actually displayed in addition to theidentification information ID. The copy control information IF storescopy control information which indicates, in each of the eight regionsof the world divided as will be described later, whether recordinginformation recorded as the image information DA can be freely copied,can be copied and recorded only once, or cannot be copied at all.

Moreover, the image information DA in each piece of the sectorinformation ST includes an information table TB for describing discregion information and so on according to Embodiment 1. In other words,the information table TB is an information table corresponding to theplayback only DVD 1.

The following will specifically describe static images included as theimage information DA in each piece of the sector information ST. Asshown in the lowermost part of FIG. 1, in a frame F serving as thestatic image, disc region information and so on described as theinformation table TB is embedded as watermarks WM in bits on eightplaces (that is, eight bits in one frame F). At this point, disc regioninformation to be included in one information table TB is embedded overa plurality of frames F. Then, during the reproduction of the imageinformation DA, the contents of the information table TB embedded as thewatermark WM are detected and decrypted, so that reproduction and so onare restricted according to the disc region information in theinformation table TB.

Referring to FIGS. 2 to 4, the following will specifically describe thecontents of the information table TB of the playback only DVD 1 that isincluded in the sector information ST.

That is, as shown in FIGS. 2(a) and 2(c), the information table TBincludes a first information table TB1 (56 bytes in total in FIG. 2(a))and a second information table TB2 (56 bytes in total in FIG. 2(c)). Atthis point, each of the information tables TB has 56 bytes ofinformation, so that the information table TB is constituted ofwatermarks WM included in the 112 (56×2) frames F in FIG. 1.

Further, as shown in FIG. 2(a), the first information table TB1includes, from the first byte, header information HD (1 byte) indicatingthat subsequent information is included in the first information tableTB1, first copy control information CCI1 (1 byte) which is copy controlinformation about four of eight divided regions of the world, secondcopy control information CCI2 (1 byte) which is copy control informationabout the other four of the eight regions, first post conversion firstcopy control information XCI1 (1 byte) which is copy control informationto be included in recording information reproduced with degraded picturequality, the picture quality or the like being degraded during thereproduction of the recording information recorded on the DVD 1 in thesame four regions as the first copy control information CCI1, first postconversion second copy control information XCI2 (1 byte) which is copycontrol information to be included in recording information reproducedwith degraded picture quality, the picture quality or the like beingdegraded during the reproduction of the recording information recordedon the DVD 1 in the same other four regions as the second copy controlinformation CCI2, second post conversion first copy control informationXXI1 (1 byte) which is copy control information to be included inrecording information reproduced with degraded picture quality, thepicture quality or the like being degraded more than the first postconversion first copy control information XCI1 during the reproductionof the recording information recorded on the DVD 1 in the same fourregions as the first copy control information CCI1, second postconversion second copy control information XXI2 (1 byte) which is copycontrol information to be included in recording information reproducedwith degraded picture quality, the picture quality or the like beingdegraded more than the first post conversion second copy controlinformation XCI2 during the reproduction of the recording informationrecorded on the DVD 1 in the same other four regions as the second copycontrol information CCI2, reproducible region information PA (1 byte)serving as disc region information indicating countries or regions whererecording information recorded on the DVD 1 can be reproduced, auxiliaryinformation R (31 bytes) including no significant information, and errorcorrection in formation ECC (17 bytes) used for error correction whenthe first information table TB1 is detected during the reproduction ofthe image information DA.

The contents of the first post conversion first copy control informationXCI1, the first post conversion second copy control information XCI2,the second post conversion first copy control information XXI1, and thesecond post conversion second copy control information XXI2 will bediscussed below. The specific contents are shown in the chart of FIG.2(b). When picture quality degradation at a predetermined first step isperformed on the picture quality and so on of recording information(restrictive conditions of copying are applied which are indicated bythe first copy control information CCI1 and the second copy controlinformation CCI2) at the distribution of the DVD 1, the contents of thefirst post conversion first copy control information XCI1 and the firstpost conversion second copy control information XCI2 are provided asbelow. In a region where the first copy control information CCI1 or thesecond copy control information CCI2 indicates “copy prohibited,” thecontents of the first post conversion first copy control informationXCI1 or first post conversion second copy control information XCI2corresponding to the region indicate “copy permitted only once.” In aregion where the first copy control information CCI1 or the second copycontrol information CCI2 indicates “copy permitted only once,” thecontents of the first post conversion first copy control informationXCI1 or first post conversion second copy control information XCI2corresponding to the region indicate “copy permitted.” In a region wherethe first copy control information CCI1 or the second copy controlinformation CCI2 indicates “copy permitted,” the contents of the firstpost conversion first copy control information XCI1 or first postconversion second copy control information XCI2 corresponding to theregion similarly indicate “copy permitted.”

When picture quality degradation at a predetermined second step isperformed on the picture quality and so on of recording information(processing for degrading picture quality more than the first step) atthe distribution of the DVD 1, the contents of the first post conversionfirst copy control information XCI1 and the first post conversion secondcopy control information XCI2 are provided as below. In all of a regionwhere the first copy control information CCI1 or the second copy controlinformation CCI2 indicates “copy prohibited”, a region where theinformation indicates “copy permitted only once,” and a region where theinformation indicates “copy permitted,” the contents of the first postconversion first copy control information XCI1 or first post conversionsecond copy control information XCI2 corresponding to each of theregions similarly indicate “copy permitted.”

Besides, when any of the picture quality degradation is not performedand thus picture quality is not degraded at all during the reproductionof recording information, the contents of the first copy controlinformation CCI1 or the second copy control information CCI2 are notchanged at all as shown in FIG. 2(b).

As shown in FIG. 2(c), the second information TB2 includes, from thefirst byte, header information HD (1 byte) indicating that subsequentinformation is included in the second information table TB2, postrecording reproducible region information RP (1 byte) serving as discregion information which indicates regions where reproduction can beperformed again after recording information reproduced from the DVD 1 isrecorded on another recording medium such as an optical disc in each ofthe eight divided regions of the world, post recording recordable regioninformation RR (1 byte) serving as disc region information whichindicates regions where copying and recording can be performed on stillanother recording medium after recording information reproduced from theDVD 1 is recorded on another recording medium such as an optical disc ineach of the eight divided regions, post recording time-shiftable regioninformation RT (1 byte) serving as disc region information whichindicates regions where reproduction (so-called time-shift reproduction)can be performed after a predetermined time from when recordinginformation reproduced from the DVD 1 is recorded on another recordingmedium such as an optical disc in each of the eight divided regions,auxiliary information R (35 bytes) including no significant information,and error correction information ECC (17 bytes) used for errorcorrection when the second information table TB2 is detected during thereproduction of the image information DA.

Referring to FIGS. 3 and 4, the detail of the first information tableTB1 will be described below.

First, as shown in FIG. 3(a), the first copy control information CCI1included in the first information table TB1 is constituted of firstregion copy control information ACCI1 (2 bits) which is copy controlinformation used for a first region (e.g., North America) of the eightregions, second region copy control information ACCI2 (2 bits) which iscopy control information used for a second region (e.g., Japan) of theeight regions, third region copy control information ACCI3 (2 bits)which is copy control information used for a third region (e.g., Europe)of the eight regions, and fourth region copy control information ACCI4(2 bits) which is copy control information used for a fourth region ofthe eight regions.

Further, as shown in FIG. 3(b), the second copy control information CCI2included in the first information table TB1 is constituted of fifthregion copy control information ACCI5 (2 bits) which is copy controlinformation used for a fifth region of the eight regions, sixth regioncopy control information ACCI6 (2 bits) which is copy controlinformation used for a sixth region of the eight regions, seventh regioncopy control information ACCI7 (2 bits) which is copy controlinformation used for a seventh region of the eight regions, and eighthregion copy control information ACCI8 (2 bits) which is copy controlinformation used for an eighth region of the eight regions.

The contents of the region copy control information ACCI shown in FIG. 3will be specifically discussed below. The first region copy controlinformation ACCI1 corresponding to the first region is used as anexample. When the copying of recording information recorded on the DVD 1is not restricted in the first region (in other words, the recordinginformation can be freely copied and recorded), the first region copycontrol information ACCI1 has “00b (“b” indicates a binary number, whichalso applies to the explanation below).” When the recording informationcan be copied and recorded only once in the first region, the firstregion copy control information ACCI1 has “10b”. When the recordinginformation cannot be copied or recorded at all in the first region, thefirst region copy control information ACCI1 has“11b”. A value “01b” ofthe first region copy control information ACCI1 is an auxiliary valuewhich is not used under normal conditions.

Moreover, as shown in FIG. 4(a), the first post conversion first copycontrol information XCI1 included in the first information table TB1 isconstituted of first region first post conversion copy controlinformation AXCI1 (2 bits) which is copy control information used forthe first region and is copy control information used when picturequality degradation at the first step is performed during reproduction,second region first post conversion copy control information AXCI2 (2bits) which is copy control information used for the second region andis copy control information used when picture quality degradation at thefirst step is performed, second region first post conversion copycontrol information AXCI3 (2 bits) which is copy control informationused for the third region and is copy control information used whenpicture quality degradation at the first step is performed, and secondregion first post conversion copy control information AXCI4 (2 bits)which is copy control information used for the fourth region and is copycontrol information used when picture quality degradation at the firststep is performed.

Further, as shown in FIG. 4(b), the first post conversion second copycontrol information XCI2 included in the first information table TB1 isconstituted of fifth region first post conversion copy controlinformation AXCI5 (2 bits) which is copy control information used forthe fifth region and is copy control information used when picturequality degradation at the first step is performed during reproduction,sixth region first post conversion copy control information AXCI6 (2bits) which is copy control information used for the sixth region and iscopy control information used when picture quality degradation at thefirst step is performed, seventh region first post conversion copycontrol information AXCI7 (2 bits) which is copy control informationused for the seventh region and is copy control information used whenpicture quality degradation at the first step is performed, and eighthregion first post conversion copy control information AXCI8 (2 bits)which is copy control information used for the eighth region and is copycontrol information used when picture quality degradation at the firststep is performed.

Besides, as shown in FIG. 4(c), the second post conversion first copycontrol information XXI1 included in the first information table TB1 isconstituted of first region second post conversion copy controlinformation AXXI1 (2 bits) which is copy control information used forthe first region and is copy control information used when picturequality degradation at the second step is performed during reproduction,second region second post conversion copy control information AXXI2 (2bits) which is copy control information used for the second region andis copy control information used when picture quality degradation at thesecond step is performed, third region first post conversion copycontrol information AXXI3 (2 bits) which is copy control informationused for the third region and is copy control information used whenpicture quality degradation at the second step is performed, and fifthregion first post conversion copy control information AXXI4 (2 bits)which is copy control information used for the fourth region and is copycontrol information used when picture quality degradation at the secondstep is performed during reproduction.

Finally, as shown in FIG. 4(d), the second post conversion second copycontrol information XXI1 included in the first information table TB1 isconstituted of fifth region second post conversion copy controlinformation AXXI5 (2 bits) which is copy control information used forthe fifth region and is copy control information used when picturequality degradation at the second step is performed during reproduction,sixth region second post conversion copy control information AXXI6 (2bits) which is copy control information used for the sixth region and iscopy control information used when picture quality degradation at thesecond step is performed, seventh region second post conversion copycontrol information AXXI7 (2 bits) which is copy control informationused for the seventh region and is copy control information used whenpicture quality degradation at the second step is performed, and eighthregion second post conversion copy control information AXXI8 (2 bits)which is copy control information used for the eighth region and is copycontrol information used when picture quality degradation at the secondstep is performed.

Regarding the specific contents of the region post conversion copycontrol information AXCI or AXXI shown in FIG. 4, copy controlinformation having the contents of FIG. 2(b) is described for eachregion at each step of picture quality degradation.

In the reproducible region information PA included in the firstinformation table TB1, 1-bit information is assigned for each of theregions. The information indicates whether recording informationrecorded on the DVD 1 can be reproduced or not in each of the eightregions.

Regarding a concrete value of the reproducible region information PA foreach of the regions, when recording information recorded on the DVD 1can be reproduced in a region, reproducible information corresponding tothe region has “1b”. When the recording information cannot be reproducedin the region, the reproducible information corresponding to the regionhas “0b”.

Further, in the post recording reproducible region information RPincluded in the second information table TB2, 1-bit information isassigned for each of the regions. The information indicates whetherreproduction is permitted in each of the eight regions after recordinginformation recorded on the DVD 1 is reproduced and is recorded onanother recording medium (to be specific, a recordable optical disc andso on).

Regarding a concrete value of the post recording reproducibleinformation RP for each of the regions, when reproduction is permittedin a region after recording information recorded on the DVD 1 isreproduced and recorded on another recording medium, post recordingreproducible information corresponding to the region has “1b”. Whenreproduction is not permitted in the region after the recordinginformation is reproduced and recorded on another recording medium, thepost recording reproducible information corresponding to the region has“0b”.

Moreover, in the post recording recordable region information RRincluded in the second information table TB2, 1-bit information isassigned for each of the regions. The information indicates whetherrecording information can be copied and recorded on still anotherrecording medium in each of the eight regions after the recordinginformation recorded on the DVD 1 is reproduced and recorded on anotherrecording medium.

Regarding a concrete value of the post recording recordable informationRR for each of the regions, when the recording information can be copiedand recorded on still another recording medium in a region after therecording information recorded on the DVD 1 is reproduced and recordedon another recording medium, post recording recordable information RRcorresponding to the region has “1b”. When the recording informationcannot be copied or recorded in the region, the post recordingrecordable information corresponding to the region has “0b”.

Finally, in the post recording time-shiftable region information RTincluded in the second information table TB2, 1-bit information isassigned for each of the regions. The information indicates whether timeshift reproduction is permitted in each of the eight regions afterrecording information reproduced from the DVD 1 is recorded on anotherrecording medium.

Regarding a concrete value of the post recording time-shiftable regioninformation RT for each of the regions, when time shift reproduction ispermitted in a region after the recording information recorded on theDVD 1 is recorded on another recording medium, the post recordingtime-shiftable region information RT corresponding to the region has“1b”. When time shift reproduction is not permitted in the region, thepost recording time-shiftable region information RT corresponding to theregion has “0b”.

Referring to FIGS. 5 and 6, the following will discuss an embodiment ofa DVD player serving as an information reproducing apparatus forreproducing recording information from the DVD 1, on which the recordinginformation is recorded in the above format.

FIG. 5 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of the DVDplayer. FIG. 6 is a flowchart showing reproduction performed in the DVDplayer.

The following explanation is premised on that the DVD player ofEmbodiment 1 stores information indicating countries or regions wherethe DVD player should be installed and operated (hereinafter theinformation indicating the countries or regions will be referred to asregion information).

As shown in FIG. 5, a DVD player P for reproducing and outputtingrecording information recorded on the playback only DVD 1 of Embodiment1 is constituted of a pickup 10, a spindle motor 11, a servo controlsection 12, an RF (Radio Frequency) amplifier 13, a signal processingcircuit 14, a descrambler circuit 15, an MPEG (Moving Picture ExpertGroup) decoder 16, a watermark inserting section 16 a, a D/A(Digital/Analog) converter 17, an adder circuit 17 a, a scramblercircuit 18, a communications interface 19, a watermark detecting section6, and a system control section 7 serving as adding means, changingmeans setting means, and outputting means. The servo control section 12,the signal processing circuit 14, the descrambler circuit 15, thescrambler circuit 18, the communications interface 19, the watermarkdetecting section 6, and the system control section 7 are connected toone another via a bus 8 so that control information and so on can besent and received to and from one another. Further, the system controlsection 7 stores region information indicating countries or regionswhere the DVD player P should be installed and operated.

Operations will be discussed below.

First, recording information to be reproduced is compressed by apredetermined compression method (to be specific, so-called MPEG, etc.)and is recorded on the DVD 1 as described above. Further, the recordinginformation is encrypted by a predetermined encryption scheme and isrecorded. The first information table TB1 and the second informationtable TB2 are embedded as the watermarks WM for each of the fields F inthe recording information.

Moreover, the DVD player P can reproduce the recording information fromthe DVD 1 and output the information in a digital manner to an externalnetwork and so on via the communications interface 19 without decoding,and the DVD player P can reproduce and decode the recording informationand directly output the information as analog information to a displayor speaker (not shown).

When the recording information is reproduced from the DVD 1, the DVD 1is first rotated at a predetermined rotational speed by the spindlemotor 11 in the DVD player P. The spindle motor 11 is driven in responseto a spindle control signal Ssb (described later).

Then, the pickup 10 irradiates the rotating DVD 1 with a light beam Bfor reproduction with a constant intensity, receives reflected light ofthe light beam B from the DVD 1 to generate a detection signal Sppcorresponding to the recorded recording information, and outputs thesignal to the RF amplifier 13.

At this point, an actuator (not shown) for changing the position of anobject lens (not shown) for condensing the light beam B on aninformation track is driven by a pickup servo signal Ssp outputted fromthe servo control section 12, so that a displacement of the focusingposition of the light beam B is eliminated relative to the position ofthe information track where recording information to be reproduced isrecorded on the DVD 1.

Then, the RF amplifier 13 amplifies the detection signal Spp and outputsthe signal as an RF signal Srf to the signal processing circuit 14.

Subsequently, the signal processing circuit 14 performs processing suchas waveform shaping on the RF signal Srf under the control of the systemcontrol section 7 via the bus 8, generates a processing signal Sdc, andoutputs the signal to the descrambler circuit 15.

Then, under the control of the system control section 7 via the bus 8,the descrambler circuit 15 decrypts the encryption of the recordinginformation, which is included in the processing signal Sdc, generates adecryption signal Sdd, and outputs the signal to the watermark insertingsection 16 a, the scrambler circuit 18, and the watermark detectingsection 6.

Thus, under the control of the system control section 7 via the bus 8,the watermark detecting section 6 detects the first information tableTB1 and the second information table TB2, which are included in thedecryption signal Sdd, and outputs the contents to the system controlsection 7.

Then, the system control section 7 controls the constituent members insuch a manner as to restrict the reproduction of recording informationin the DVD 1 according to the outputted contents of the firstinformation table TB1 and the second information table TB2.

Regarding the specific configuration of the detail of the watermarkdetecting section 6, a watermark detecting section configured asdisclosed in paragraphs [0035] to [0053] and FIG. 3 of Japanese PatentLaid-Open No. 11-98341 is suitable.

The watermark inserting section 16 a fed with the decryption signal Sddinserts, into the decryption signal Sdd, watermarks to be inserted toimage information which has been reproduced in an analog manner. Then,the watermark inserting section 16 a generates an insertion decryptionsignal Sins and outputs the signal to the MPEG decoder 16.

The MPEG decoder 16 expands recording information included in theinsertion decryption signal Sins according to an expansion methodcorresponding to the compression method used for the insertiondecryption signal Sins, generates an expansion signal Sa, and outputsthe signal to the D/A converter 17. At this point, in the MPEG decoder16, when reproduction in the DVD player P is determined beforehand asreproduction with image degradation at the first step or imagedegradation at the second step, necessary picture quality degradation isperformed along with the expansion, and then, the expansion signal Sa isgenerated.

Then, the D/A converter 17 converts the expansion signal Sa into ananalog signal to generate an analog output signal Saoo and outputs thesignal to the adder circuit 17 a.

Thereafter, the adder circuit 17 a superimposes copy controlinformation, which has the same contents as copy control informationinserted as watermarks by the watermark inserting section 16 a, on thereproduced analog output signal Saoo in an analog manner, generates ananalog output signal Sao, and outputs the signal to the display, speakeror the like.

Under the control of the system control section 7 via the bus 8, thescrambler circuit 18 fed with the decryption signal Sdd encrypts thedecryption signal Sdd again using a predetermined encryption key in thecommunications interface 19, generates an encryption signal Ssc, andoutputs the signal to the communications interface 19. At this point,recording information included in the encryption signal Ssc is notsubjected to so-called decoding or the picture quality degradation butis outputted as it is to the communications interface 19.

Then, under the control of the system control section 7 via the bus 8,the communications interface 19 performs predetermined output interfaceprocessing on the encryption signal Ssc and outputs the signal asdemodulation information Sp to the external network and so on.

In parallel with the operations of the constituent members, the systemcontrol section 7 restricts reproduction in the above-described mannerand exercises control over the operations of the constituent members.

Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 6, the following will summarizeinformation reproduction (including a restriction on reproductionaccording to the copy control information) for reproducing informationfrom the DVD 1 in the DVD player P configured thus and informationreproduction having the picture quality degradation. The following willdescribe processing for outputting recording information recorded on theDVD 1 to the display or speaker as the analog output signal Sao.

As shown in FIG. 6, in the information reproduction of Embodiment 1, thelight beam B for reproduction is first emitted to a recording positionon the DVD 1 where recording information to be reproduced is recorded,the sector information ST (FIG. 1) having been recorded on the recordingposition is read, and the identification information ID is detected fromthe sector information ST (step S1).

Then, information in the sector information ST is read that isreproduced subsequently to the identification information ID and it isconfirmed whether the information is encrypted or not (step S2). Whenthe information is not encrypted (step S2; NO), the process advances tostep S4 (described later). When the information is encrypted (step S2;YES), the encryption is decrypted in the descrambler circuit 15 (stepS3). The recording information is read while being decrypted (step S4).

Subsequently, it is monitored all the time whether the reading ofnecessary information is completed or not during the reading of therecording information (step S5). When the reading is not completed (stepS5; NO), the process returns to step S1 to reproduce subsequentrecording information in the sector information ST. When the reading ofnecessary information is completed (step S5; YES), the read recordinginformation (decryption signal Sdd) is decoded in the MPEG decoder 16 inorder to output the information as the analog output signal Sao (stepS6) and the watermarks WM are detected from information corresponding tothe sector information ST included in the decryption signal Sdd (stepS7).

Then, it is confirmed whether the watermarks WM are detected or not(step S8). When the watermarks WM are not detected (step S8; NO), it isdecided that reproduction restriction is not necessary for the recordinginformation recorded on the DVD 1, which is currently loaded in the DVDplayer P, and the process advances to the processing of step S18(described later). When the watermarks WM are detected (step S8; YES),region information is acquired which is stored in the system controlsection 7 and corresponds to the DVD player P (step S9). Then, thecontents of the first information table TB1 and the second informationtable TB2 are extracted from the watermarks WM detected in step S8 andare decrypted in the watermark detecting section 6, and the reproducibleregion information PA or the like is obtained as disc region information(step S10).

Subsequently, based on the obtained reproducible region information PA,it is confirmed whether the recording information recorded on the DVD 1can be reproduced or not in regions indicated by the region informationobtained in step S9, that is, in countries or regions where the DVDplayer P should be installed and operated (step S11). Then, when thereproducible region information PA indicates that the installationregion of the DVD player P is not a region where recording informationcan be reproduced (step S11; NO), the recording information cannot bereproduced by the DVD player P. Thus, the DVD player P is reset toforcefully terminate the reproduction of the recording informationrecorded on the DVD 1 in the DVD player P (step S13), a warning that therecording information cannot be reproduced is issued on a display (notshown) and so on (step S14), and a series of reproducing operations iscompleted.

In the decision of step S11, when the reproducible region information PAindicates that the installation region of the DVD player P is a regionwhere recording information can be reproduced (step S11; YES),confirmation is made on the contents of the copy control information IFin each piece of the sector information ST and the contents of theregion copy control information ACCI in the detected (steps S7 and S8)first information table TB1, and it is confirmed whether or not thecontents of the copy control information IF corresponding to a regionindicated by the region information match with the contents of theregion copy control information ACCI corresponding to the region (thatis, whether any one of the information IF and the information ACCI isillegally tampered or not) (step S12).

When the contents of the copy control information IF corresponding tothe region indicated by the region information match with the contentsof the region copy control information ACCI corresponding to the region(step S12; YES), it is decided that illegal tampering or the like is notperformed on the DVD 1. Subsequently, it is confirmed whether thecurrently performed information reproduction has any of the picturequality degradation and it is confirmed whether decoded (step S6)recording information includes any of the first post conversion firstcopy control information XCI1 and the first post conversion second copycontrol information XCI2 or the second post conversion first copycontrol information XXI1 and the second post conversion second copycontrol information XXI2 (step S15).

When the recording information has any of the picture qualitydegradation and includes the post conversion copy control information(step S15; YES), the contents of the picture quality degradation (i.e.,picture quality degradation at the first step or picture qualitydegradation at the second step) and the post conversion copy controlinformation corresponding to the region indicated by the regioninformation are set in the watermark inserting section 16 a and theadder circuit 17 a as copy control information to be included inrecording information outputted as the analog output signal Sao (stepS16). Then, reproduction is performed to output the decoded (step S6)recording information with the copy control information as the analogoutput signal Sao (step S17).

Additionally, when it is decided in step S15 that the informationreproduction of FIG. 6 does not include any of the picture qualitydegradation or the decoded (step S6) recording information does notinclude any one of the post conversion copy control information (stepS15; NO), the process advances to the reproduction of step S17(reproduction not including copy control information).

Then, it is monitored all the time whether necessary recordinginformation is completely reproduced or not during reproduction (stepS18). When reproduction is completed (step S18; YES), the reproducingprocess is completed. When the reproduction is not completed (step S18;NO), the process returns to step S1 to continue the series ofreproducing operations.

When it is decided in step S12 that the contents of the copy controlinformation IF corresponding to a region indicated by the regioninformation does not match with the contents of the region copy controlinformation ACCI corresponding to the region (step S12; NO), illegaltampering or the like may be performed on the DVD 1. Therefore, it isdecided that recording information recorded on the currently loaded DVD1 should not be reproduced. The DVD player P is reset to forcefullyterminate reproduction performed in the DVD player P (step S13), awarning that the recording information cannot be reproduced is issued onthe display (not shown) and so on (step S14), and a series ofreproducing operations is terminated.

When picture quality degradation is not performed during reproduction inEmbodiment 1, the first copy control information CCI1 and the secondcopy control information CCI1, which have been recorded on the DVD 1,are included as they are in the reproduced recording information.

As described above, according to the recording format of the DVD 1 andthe operations of the DVD player P of Embodiment 1, recordinginformation on the DVD 1 includes the first post conversion first copycontrol information XCI1 and first post conversion second copy controlinformation XCI2 or the second post conversion first copy controlinformation XXI1 and the second post conversion second copy controlinformation XXI2, and the first copy control information CCI1 and thesecond copy control information CCI2. When picture quality and so on aredegraded during the reproduction of the recording information, postconversion copy control information corresponding to the degradation ofpicture quality and so on is superimposed on the reproduced recordinginformation before being outputted. When picture quality and soon aremaintained during the reproduction of the recording information, thefirst copy control information CCI1 and the second copy controlinformation CCI2 are superimposed on the reproduced recordinginformation before being outputted. Therefore, it is possible to changethe contents of the subsequent restriction on copying according to achange in picture quality and so on during reproduction, therebyeffectively protecting the copyright of the recording information.

Further, when reproduction is performed after the picture quality and soon of recording information are degraded, post conversion copy controlinformation is superimposed with more moderate restrictive conditions ofcopying. Thus, regarding recording information degraded in picturequality and so on during reproduction, copying is restricted undermoderate restrictive conditions. Meanwhile, in the case of recordinginformation not being degraded in picture quality and so on duringreproduction, copying can be restricted by the original first copycontrol information CCI1 and second copy control information CCI2.Hence, the restrictive conditions of copying can be made moderate orstrict according to the quality of recording information, so that it ispossible to widely distribute the recording information while adjustinginterests between the creator and the user of the recording informationand it is possible to -widely and properly restrict the copying of therecording information, thereby effectively protect the copyright of therecording information.

(II) Embodiment 2

Referring to FIGS. 7 to 14, the following will discuss Embodiment 2,which is another embodiment of the present invention.

In Embodiment 2 described below, the present invention is applied to thecase where the reproduction or recording of recording information isrestricted at the destination in an information transmission system fortransmitting the recording information, which includes at least imageinformation, via satellite airwaves.

FIG. 7 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of theinformation transmission system of Embodiment 2. FIG. 8 is a blockdiagram showing the schematic configuration of a video transmitterincluded in the information transmission system. FIG. 9 is a diagramshowing a format of recording information transmitted in the informationtransmission system. FIG. 10 is a diagram showing the specific contentsof the transmitted recording information. FIG. 11 is a block diagramshowing the schematic configuration of a set-top box included in theinformation transmission system. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing areceiving operation performed in the set-top box. FIG. 13 is a blockdiagram showing the schematic configuration of a recorder included inthe information transmission system. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing arecording operation performed in the recorder.

First, the overall configuration of the information transmission systemwill be described below according to Embodiment 2. As shown in FIG. 7,the information transmission system SS is constituted of a videotransmitter M, a transmitter TX, antennas ATT and ATR, a communicationssatellite SR which is a geostationary satellite launched into space, aset-top box STB, a television set TV, a recorder RC, and a DVD player Pwhich performs the same operations with the same configuration asEmbodiment 1.

The outline of operations will be discussed below.

First, the video transmitter M generates recording information to betransmitted by using the information transmission system SS in such amanner as to include information tables in formats which will bedescribed later. Then, the video transmitter M outputs the recordinginformation to the transmitter TX as an equivalent recording informationsignal Sr.

Thus, the transmitter TX performs predetermined modulation or the likeon the recording information signal Sr and outputs the recordinginformation signal Sr to the transmitting antenna ATT as an outputsignal Stt for satellite communication.

Then, the antenna ATT converts the output signal Sr into radio waves forsatellite transmission and transmits the radio waves to thecommunications satellite SR. At this point, the output signal Sr isencrypted by a predetermined encryption scheme before being transmittedas radio waves to the communications satellite SR.

Subsequently, the communications satellite SR receives radio wavescorresponding to the output signal, and relays and transmits the outputsignal to the receiving antenna ATR.

Hence, the antenna ATR receives the relayed radio waves, generates anequivalent received signal Srr, and outputs the signal to the set-topbox STB.

Then, the set-top box STB demodulates the received signal Srr, decryptsthe encryption having been performed upon transmission, generates animage signal Svd corresponding to image information included intransmitted recording information and a sound signal Sad correspondingto sound information included in the recording information, outputs thesignals to the television set TV, demodulates the received signal Srr,encrypts the signal again according to an encryption scheme differentfrom that of the encryption performed upon transmission, generates adigital output signal Sd serving as a digital signal, and outputs thesignal to the recorder RC.

With these operations, the television set TV displays an image inputtedas the image signal Svd on a display (not shown) and outputs soundinputted as the sound signal Sad from a speaker (not shown).

The recorder RC fed with the digital output signal Sd records an imageand sound, which are included in the digital output signal Sd, on arecordable DVD 100 according to recording restriction information whichis included in the information tables (information tables forrestricting recording, described later) included in the digital outputsignal Sd.

Then, recording information recorded on the DVD 100 is reproduced by theDVD player P according to reproduction restriction information includedin the information tables (information tables for restrictingreproduction, described later) which are recorded with the recordinginformation by the recorder RC.

In the above operations, picture quality degradation at the first stepor picture quality degradation at the second step of Embodiment 2 isperformed in only one of the set-top box STB and the recorder RC. Thepicture quality degradation is not performed in the DVD player P ofEmbodiment 2.

Referring to FIG. 8, the detailed configuration and operations of thevideo transmitter M will be described below.

As shown in FIG. 8, the video transmitter M included in the informationtransmission system SS is constituted of a control section 60, a memory61 composed of RAM (Random Access Memory) and ROM (Read Only Memory), adisplay section 62, an operation section 63, a VTR (Video Tape Recorder)64, an MPEG encoder 65, and a video signal output section 66.

Operations will be discussed below.

First, recording information to be transmitted in the informationtransmission system SS of Embodiment 2 is recorded beforehand in the VTR64.

In response to an operation signal Sin corresponding to an operationoperated in the operation section 63, the control section 60 transmitsand receives necessary information as a memory signal Sm to and from thememory 61. Meanwhile, the control section 60 extracts, from recordinginformation recorded in the VTR 64, recording information to betransmitted in the information transmission system SS as recordinginformation Svr. Then, the control section 60 separately generates theinformation tables to be transmitted (described later) which aresuperimposed on the extracted recording information Svr, embeds thegenerated information tables as watermarks in the recording informationSvr having been extracted from the VTR 64, and causes the VTR 64 tostore recording information Scv again, in which the information tablesare embedded. Thereafter, the control section 60 controls the VTR 64 insuch a manner as to output the recording information Scv, in which theinformation tables are embedded, to the MPEG encoder 65 withpredetermined timing.

Subsequently, the MPEG encoder 65 compresses and modulates the recordinginformation Scv according to MPEG and outputs the information asmodulation information Se to the video signal output section 66.

Then, the video signal output section 66 performs predetermined outputprocessing such as format conversion and encryption on the modulationsignal Se and outputs the signal as the recording information signal Srto the transmitter TX.

Referring to FIGS. 9 to 12, the following will describe a format ofrecording information outputted as the recording information signal Srfrom the video transmitter M.

First, as shown in FIG. 9, the recording information outputted as therecording information signal Sr from the video transmitter M includes atleast video information VD constituted of two or more pieces of sectorinformation ST and audio information AD which is sound informationcorresponding to the video information VD, as in the case of Embodiment1.

At this point, like Embodiment 1, one piece of the sector information STis constituted of identification information ID, correction informationFT, copy control information IF, and image information DA.

Moreover, the image information DA in each piece of the sectorinformation ST includes an information table TBa for describing regioninformation (hereinafter referred to as stream region information) andso on corresponding to recording information distributed via thecommunications satellite SR.

The following will specifically describe static images included as theimage information DA in each piece of the sector information ST. Asshown in the lower part of FIG. 9, in a frame F serving as the staticimage, stream region information and so on described as the informationtable TBa is embedded as watermarks WM in bits on eight places as inEmbodiment 1. Then, when the recording information including the imageinformation DA is received by the set-top box STB, the contents of theinformation table TB embedded as the watermark WM are detected anddecrypted, so that reproduction and recording are restricted accordingto the stream region information in the information table TBa.

Referring to FIG. 10, the following will describe the contents of theinformation table TBa which is included in the sector information ST andserves as recording information for distribution.

First, as shown in FIG. 10, the information table TBa includes one of afirst information table TB1 a (56 bytes in total) and a firstinformation table TB1 b (56 bytes in total) and a second informationtable TB2 (56 bytes in total) having the same contents as Embodiment 1(FIG. 2(c)).

At this point, when the recording information for distribution that isoutputted from the video transmitter M cannot be copied at thedestination, the first information table TB1 a shown in FIG. 10(a) andthe second information table TB2 are superimposed on the recordinginformation for distribution. When the recording information fordistribution can be freely copied at the destination or can be copiedonly once, the first information table TB1 b shown in FIG. 10(b) and thesecond information table TB2 are superimposed on the recordinginformation for distribution.

Further, as shown in FIG. 10(a), the first information table TB1 aincludes, from the first byte, header information HD (1 byte) having thesame contents as the first information table TB1 of Embodiment 1, firstcopy control information CCI1 (1 byte), second copy control informationCCI2 (1 byte), first post conversion first copy control information XCI1(1 byte), first post conversion second copy control information XCI2 (1byte), second post conversion first copy control information XXI1 (1byte), and second post conversion second copy control information XXI2(1 byte). In addition, the first information table TB1 a describesreproducible region information PA (1 byte) serving as stream regioninformation indicating countries or regions where reproduction ispermitted after the distribution of the recording information fordistribution. Furthermore, the first information table TB1 a includesrecordable region information RAA (1 byte) serving as stream regioninformation indicating countries or regions where distributed recordinginformation can be recorded on a recording medium such as the DVD 100,time-shiftable region information TA (1 byte) serving as stream regioninformation indicating counties or regions where distributed recordinginformation can be temporarily recorded and subjected to time-shiftreproduction with a time interval, viewable period information PT (16bytes) indicating, for each region, a period during which distributedrecording information can be reproduced and viewed at the destination,recordable period information RT (16 bytes) indicating, for each region,a period during which distributed recording information can be recordedon a recording medium such as the DVD 100 at the destination,time-shiftable period information TT (1 byte) indicating, for eachregion, a period during which distributed recording information can besubjected to time-shift reproduction at the destination, and errorcorrection information ECC (13 bytes) used for error correction when thefirst information table TB1 a is detected during the reproduction of theimage information DA.

As shown in FIG. 10(b), the first information table TB1 b describesrecording region information RA (1 byte) serving as stream regioninformation indicating countries or regions where distributed recordinginformation is actually recorded on a recording medium such as the DVD100 by the recorder RC, instead of the time-shiftable region informationTA in the first information table TB1 a shown in FIG. 10(a). Informationother than the recording region information RA in the first informationtable TB1 b is completely similar to that of the first information tableTB1 a.

The detail of the first information tables TB1 a and TB1 b will bedescribed below.

First, regarding a concrete value of the recordable region informationRAA for each of the regions that is included in the first informationtables TB1 a and TB1 b, when distributed recording information can berecorded on a recording medium such as the DVD 100 in a region,recordable region information corresponding to the region has “1b”. Whenthe recording information cannot be recorded in the region, reproducibleinformation corresponding to the region has “0b”.

Further, regarding a concrete value of the time-shiftable regioninformation TA for each of the regions that is included in the firstinformation table TB1 a, when distributed recording information can besubjected to time-shift reproduction in a region, time-shiftable regioninformation corresponding to the region has “1b”. When the recordinginformation cannot be subjected to time-shift reproduction in theregion, the time-shiftable region information corresponding to theregion has “0b”.

The detailed configurations of the viewable period information PT andrecordable period information RT for each region will be discussedbelow. The viewable period information PT for the first region isdescribed as an example.

In the viewable period information PT for the first region, 2 bytes ofinformation describe a period during which distributed recordinginformation can be reproduced and viewed in the first region. To bespecific, from the start of the information, 5 bits of informationdescribe a year up to 2032 (i.e., 2000+25 years) as a starting year ofthe viewable period in the first region, the subsequent 4 bits ofinformation describe a starting month of the viewable period, thesubsequent 5 bits of information describe a length of the viewableperiod, and the last 1 bit of information describes whether the viewableperiod is limited or not.

This description format is similarly applied to the viewable periodinformation PT for other regions and the recordable period informationRT for each region.

Finally, the time-shiftable period information TT included in the firstinformation tables TB1 a and TB1 b describes a period during whichdistributed recording information can be subjected to time-shirtreproduction, that is, a period during which recording informationreceived by the set-top box STB can be subjected to time-shiftreproduction with an upper limit of 168 hours (1 week).

Referring to FIGS. 11 and 12, the following will describe the detailedconfiguration and operations of the set-top box STB for receivingrecording information which is transmitted via the communicationssatellite SR after the information table TBa is superimposed on therecording information. The information table TBa includes the firsttable TB1 a or TB1 b having the above configuration and the secondinformation table TB2.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of theset-top box STB. FIG. 12 is a flowchart showing demodulation in theset-top box STB.

As shown in FIG. 11, the set-top box STB for demodulating recordinginformation can output the digital output signal Sd to the recorder RCand output the image signal Svd and the sound signal Sad to thetelevision set TV. The recording information is received by the antennaATR via the communications satellite SR and is inputted as the receivedsignal Srr. To be specific, the set-top box STB is constituted of afront end 20, a descrambler 21, demultiplexer 22, a sound decoder 23, animage decoder 24, a CPU 25, a memory 26, an extracting/convertingsection 27, watermark inserting section 27 a, a watermark detectingsection 28, an encrypting section 29, and an interface 30. Theconstituent members can send and receive control information and so onto and from one another via a bus 31. Further, the CPU 25 stores regioninformation indicating countries or regions where the set-top box STBshould be installed and operated.

Operations will be discussed below.

First, the following will describe the operations of the set-top box STBwhen the received signal Srr is outputted as the image signal Svd andthe sound signal Sad to the television set TV.

In this case, in the received signal Srr, sound information and imageinformation are compressed according to MPEG in the above-describedmanner and are inputted while being encrypted.

The front end 20 performs a predetermined receiving operation on thereceived signal Srr, generates a processed/received signal Sfe, andoutputs the signal to the descrambler 21.

Subsequently, the descrambler 21 decrypts the encryption of recordinginformation included in the processed/received signal Sfe, generates adecryption signal Sds, and outputs the signal to the demultiplexer 22.

Thus, the demultiplexer 22 separates sound information and imageinformation included in the decryption signal Sds, outputs the separatedsound information to the sound decoder 23 as a separated sound signalSas, and outputs the separated image information to the image decoder 24as a separated image signal Svs.

Then, the sound decoder 23 decodes the sound signal Sas and outputs thesignal to the television set TV as the sound signal Sad.

Meanwhile, the image decoder 24 decodes the image signal Svs andsimilarly outputs the signal to the television set TV as the imagesignal Svd.

At this point, the CPU 25 exercises control over the constituent memberswhile transmitting and receiving necessary control information via thebus 31. The necessary information is used for the control while beingstored in the memory 26 via the bus 31 for the time being.

The following will discuss the operations of the set-top box STB whenrecording information acquired as the received signal Srr is outputtedto the recorder RC as the digital output signal Sd.

First, when the digital output signal Sd is outputted to the recorderRC, in response to the received signal Srr inputted to the set-top boxSTB, the decryption signal Sds is generated by the operations of thefront end 20 and the descrambler 21 and is outputted to the extractingsection 27 and the watermark detecting section 28.

Hence, the extracting/converting section 27 extracts from the decryptionsignal Sds only recording information to be recorded on the DVD 100 inthe recorder RC, generates an extraction signal Sdv, and outputs thesignal to the watermark inserting section 27 a. At this point, in theextracting/converting section 27, when the demodulation of the set-topbox STB is set beforehand as reproduction having image degradation atthe first step or image degradation at the second step, necessarypicture quality degradation is performed in parallel with the extractionto generate the extraction signal Sdv.

Then, the watermark inserting section 27 a inserts, into the extractionsignal Sdv, watermarks to be inserted into image information having beenoutputted to the recorder RC, generates an insertion/extraction signalSidv, and outputs the signal to the encrypting section 29.

In parallel with this operation, the water mark detecting section 28extracts the information table TBa which is superimposed on recordinginformation included in the decryption signal Sds, and outputs thecontents to the CPU 25 via the bus 31.

As will be described later in FIG. 12, when recording information isdemodulated according to the contents in the information table TBa, thedemodulated recording information is temporarily recorded with theinformation table TBa in an external storage device included in thememory 26 (to be specific, a hard disc and so on). Then, the recordinginformation is read from the external storage device as necessary and isoutputted to the encrypting section 29 as an output to the recorder RC.

Thus, the encrypting section 29 encrypts the extraction signal Sdv byusing an encryption key which is set in the interface 30 by mutualauthentication with the recorder RC, generates an encryption signal SX,and outputs the signal to the interface 30.

Further, the interface 30 performs predetermined interface processing onthe encryption signal Sx and outputs the signal to the recorder RC as adigital output signal Sd. In this case, the information table TBa in therecording information included in the received signal Srr issuperimposed as it is on the corresponding recording information, and isoutputted to the recorder RC.

At this point, the CPU 25 exercises control over the constituent membersaccording to the contents of the information table TBa detected in thewatermark detecting section 28 while transmitting and receivingnecessary control information via the bus 31. The necessary informationis used for the control while being stored in the memory 26 via the bus31 for the time being.

Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 12, the following will summarizedemodulation performed in the set-top box STB configured thus. Thefollowing will describe demodulation when recording information acquiredas the received signal Srr is outputted to the recorder RC as thedigital output signal Sd.

As shown in FIG. 12, in the demodulation of Embodiment 2, identificationinformation ID in the sector information ST is first detected fromrecording information inputted as the received signal Srr (step S20).

Then, information in the sector information ST reproduced subsequentlyto the identification information ID is read to confirm whether theinformation is encrypted or not (step S21). When the information is notencrypted (step S21; NO), the process advances to step S23 (describedlater). When the information is encrypted (step S21; YES), theencryption is decrypted in the descrambler circuit 21 (step S22) andreceived recording information is read while the decryption is performed(step S23).

Subsequently, it is monitored all the time whether the reading ofnecessary information is completed or not during the reading of therecording information (step S24). When the reading is not completed(step S24; NO), the process returns to step S20 to reproduce recordinginformation in the subsequent sector information ST. When the reading ofnecessary information is completed (step S24; YES), the read recordinginformation (decryption signal Sds) is decoded in the extracting section27 (step S25) and watermarks WM are detected in the watermark detectingsection 28 from information corresponding to the sector information STincluded in the decryption signal Sds (step S26).

Then, it is confirmed whether the watermarks WM are detected or not(step S27). When the watermarks WM are not detected (step S27; NO), itis decided that reproduction restriction is not necessary on recordinginformation in the received signal Srr which is currently received, andthe process advances to the processing of step S37 (described later).When the watermarks WM are detected (step S27; YES), region informationis obtained which is stored in the CPU 25 and corresponds to the set-topbox STB (step S28), the contents of the first information table TB1 a orTB1 b and the second information table TB2 are extracted from thewatermarks WM detected in step S26 and are decrypted in the watermarkdetecting section 28, and the reproducible region information PA and therecordable region information RAA are obtained as stream regioninformation (step S29).

Subsequently, based on the obtained reproducible region information PA,it is confirmed whether recording information in the received signal Srrcan be reproduced or not in regions indicated by the region informationobtained in step S28, that is, in countries or regions where the set-topbox STB should be installed and operated (step S30). Then, when thereproducible region information PA indicates that the installationregion of the set-top box STB is not a region where recordinginformation can be reproduced (step S30; NO), the recording informationcannot be demodulated by the set-top box STB. Thus, the set-top box STBis reset to forcefully terminate demodulation performed on the receivedsignal Srr (step S32), a warning that the demodulation cannot beperformed is issued on a display (not shown) and so on (step S33), and aseries of demodulating operations is completed.

When it is decided in step S30 that the reproducible region informationPA indicates that the installation region of the set-top box STB is aregion where recording information included in the received signal Srrcan be reproduced (step S30; YES), confirmation is made on the contentsof the copy control information IF in each piece of the sectorinformation ST and the contents of the region copy control informationACCI in the detected (steps S26 and S27) first information table TB1 a,and it is confirmed whether or not the contents of the copy controlinformation IF corresponding to a region indicated by the regioninformation match with the contents of the region copy controlinformation ACCI corresponding to the region (that is, whether any oneof the information IF and the information ACCI is illegally tampered ornot) (step S31).

When the contents of the copy control information IF corresponding to aregion indicated by the region information match with the contents ofthe region copy control information ACCI corresponding to the region(step S31; YES), it is decided that illegal tampering or the like is notperformed on recording information in the received signal Srr.Subsequently, it is confirmed whether or not recording information inthe received signal Srr can be subjected to time-shift reproduction in aregion indicated by the region information obtained in step S28, basedon the time-shiftable region information TA obtained in step S29 (stepS34). Then, when the time-shiftable region information TA indicates thatthe installation region of the set-top box STB is not a region whererecording information can be subjected to time-shift reproduction (stepS34; NO), the process advances to step S37 (described later).

When it is decided in step S34 that the installation region of theset-top box STB is a region where recording information can be subjectedto time-shift reproduction (step S34; YES), information indicating theimplementation of time-shift reproduction and the detectedtime-shiftable period information TT are set (step S35). Subsequently itis confirmed whether the currently performed demodulation has any of thepicture quality degradation and it is confirmed whether decoded (stepS25) recording information includes any one of the first post conversionfirst copy control information XCI1 and the first post conversion secondcopy control information XCI2 or the second post conversion first copycontrol information XXI1 and the second post conversion second copycontrol information XXI2 (step S36).

When the demodulation has any of the image degradation and includes postconversion copy control information (step S36; YES), the contents of thepicture quality degradation and post conversion copy control informationcorresponding to a region indicated by the region information are set inthe watermark inserting section 27 a as copy control information to beincluded in recording information which is outputted as the digitaloutput signal Sd (step S37). Subsequently, the recording informationdecoded from the received signal Srr with the set time-shiftable periodinformation TT and soon is recoded with the set (step S37) copy controlinformation in the external storage device (to be specific, a hard discand so on) included in the memory 26 (step S38).

In the decision of step S36, when the demodulation of FIG. 12 does notinclude any of picture quality degradation or when the decoded (stepS25) recording information does not include any one of the postconversion copy control information (step S36; NO), the process advancesto the recording (recording not including copy control information) ofstep S38.

Then, it is confirmed whether the recording of the recording informationand so on is completed or not and it is confirmed whether the set-topbox STB should be turned off or not (step S39). When it is decided thatthe set-top box STB should be turned off (step S39; YES), a series ofdemodulating operations is completed.

On the other hand, when it is decided in step S39 that demodulation iscontinuously performed (step S39; NO), the process returns to step S20and the series of processing is repeated.

When it is decided in step S31 that the contents of the copy controlinformation IF corresponding to a region indicated by the regioninformation do not match with the contents of the region copy controlinformation ACCI corresponding to the region (step S31; NO), therecording information in the received signal Srr may be illegallytampered. Therefore, it is decided that the currently received recordinginformation should not be demodulated, the set-top box STB is reset toforcefully terminate the demodulation in the set-top box STB (step S32),a warning that the recording information cannot be demodulated is issuedon the display (not shown) and so on (step S33), and a series ofdemodulating operations is completed.

When the picture quality degradation is not performed in thedemodulation of Embodiment 2, the first copy control information CCI1and the second copy control information CCI1 in the distributedrecording information are included as they are in the demodulatedrecording information.

Finally, referring to FIGS. 13 and 14, the following will describe thedetailed configuration and operations of the recorder RC for recordingthe digital output signal Sd outputted from the set-top box STB on theDVD 100 while the information table TBa is superimposed on the digitalsignal Sd. The information table TBa includes the first table TB1 a orTB1 b having the above configuration and the second information tableTB2.

FIG. 13 is a block diagram showing the schematic configuration of therecorder RC. FIG. 14 is a flowchart showing the recording in therecorder RC.

As shown in FIG. 13, the recorder RC which records recording informationon the recordable DVD 100 is constituted of a pickup 40, a spindle motor41, a servo control section 42, an LD (LASER Diode) driver 43, a signalprocessing circuit 44, a scrambler circuit 45, a switch 48, a watermarkinserting section 47, an MPEG encoder 49, an A/D (Analog/Digital)converter 50, a descrambling converter circuit 51, communicationsinterface 52, a watermark detecting section 53, a system control section54, and a DVD formatter 56. The servo control section 42, the signalprocessing circuit 44, the scrambler circuit 45, the watermark insertingsection 47, the descrambler circuit 51, the communications interface 52,the watermark inserting section 53, and the system control section 54are connected to one another via a bus 55 so that control informationand so on can be sent and received to and from one another.

Operation will be described below.

First, recording information outputted from the set-top box STB as thedigital output signal Sd is compressed according to a compression methodconforming to MPEG and is recorded on the DVD 100. Further, therecording information is encrypted according to a predeterminedencryption scheme before compression, and then, the recordinginformation is recorded. Further, the recording information is recordedwith the information table TBa embedded (multiplexed) as the watermarkWM.

In addition to the recording of the digital output signal Sd on the DVD100, the recorder RC can digitize analog information (including both ofanalog sound information and analog image information) from outside andrecord the information on the DVD 100.

When recording information is recorded on the DVD 100, the DVD 100 isfirst rotated at a predetermined rotational speed by the spindle motor41 in the recorder RC. The spindle motor 41 is driven in response to aspindle control signal Ssb (described later).

Then, the A/D converter 50 digitizes the analog information Sai inputtedfrom the outside, generates a digital input signal Sdin, and outputs thesignal to the MPEG encoder 49.

Subsequently, the MPEG encoder 49 performs compression on the digitalinput signal Sdin according to MPEG, generates a compression signal Sme,and outputs the signal to the switch 48.

The interface 52 performs predetermined input interface processing onthe digital output signal Sd under the control of the system controlsection 54 via the bus 55, and outputs the signal to the descramblercircuit 51 as a processing signal Sif.

Then, the descrambler circuit 51 decodes the encryption of the recordinginformation, which is included in the processing signal Sif (that is,recording information which is demodulated and transmitted in theset-top box STB), under the control of the system control section 54 viathe bus 55, generates a decoding signal Sdx, and outputs the signal tothe switch 48.

At this point, in the descrambling/converting section 51, when it isdecided beforehand that picture quality degradation at the first step orpicture quality degradation at the second step should be performed withthe recording in the recorder RC instead of the demodulation in theset-top box STB, necessary picture quality degradation is performed inparallel with the decoding and the decoding signal Sdx is generated.

Thus, according to a switching signal Sswl from the system controlsection 54, the switch 48 selects a signal inputted at that time fromthe decoding signal Sdx and the compression signal Sme, and the switch48 outputs the signal as a switch signal Spl to the watermark insertingsection 47 and the watermark detecting section 53.

Hence, under the control of the system control section 54 via the bus55, the watermark detecting section 53 detects the information table TBaincluded in the switch signal Spl and outputs the contents to the systemcontrol section 53.

Then, when it is decided that the analog information Sai currentlyinputted to the recorder RC or the recording information included in thedigital output signal Sd are prohibited from being recorded on the DVD100, the system control section 54 controls the constituent members insuch a manner as to suspend the subsequent recording of the analoginformation Sai or the digital output signal Sd according to theoutputted contents of the information table TBa.

Regarding the detailed specific configuration of the watermark detectingsection 53, like the watermark detecting section 6, a watermarkdetecting section configured as disclosed in paragraphs [0035] to[0053]and FIG. 3 of Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 11-98341 is suitable.

Under the control of the system control section 54 via the bus 55, thewatermark inserting section 47 inserts the information table TBa, whichhas the contents applied to the recording information having beenrecorded on the DVD 100, into the switch signal Spl, generates aninsertion signal Sis, and outputs the signal to the DVD formatter 56.

To be specific, for example, regarding the copy control information CCIin the information table TBa included in the inputted digital outputsignal Sd, when the contents of the copy control information CCIcorresponding to a county or a region where the recorder RC is installedindicate that the corresponding recording information can be recordedonly once on the DVD 100 in the region, copy prohibition information forprohibiting the subsequent copying and recording is inserted as copycontrol information CCI corresponding to the country or region where therecorder RC is installed, in the copy control information CCI in theinformation table TBa inserted by the watermark inserting section 47.

Then, the DVD formatter 56 converts the insertion signal Sis into arecording format for the DVD 100, generates a format signal Sdvd, andoutputs the signal to the scrambler circuit 45.

Hence, under the control of the system control section 54 via the bus55, the scrambler circuit 45 encrypts recording information included inthe format signal Sdvd (including the information table TBa having thecontents applied to the recording information having been recorded onthe DVD 100) by using the predetermined encryption key, generates anencryption signal Ssx, and outputs the signal to the signal processingcircuit 44.

Then, under the control of the system control section 54 via the bus 55,the signal processing circuit 44 performs processing for recording thatincludes waveform shaping on the encryption signal Ssx, generates aprocessing signal Sec, and outputs the signal to the LD driver 43.

Subsequently, the LD driver 43 performs processing such as amplificationon the processing signal Sec, generates a driving signal Sld for drivinga semiconductor laser (semiconductor laser for irradiating the DVD 100with a light beam B for recording, not shown) in the pickup 40, andoutputs the signal to the pickup 40.

Thus, the pickup 40 irradiates the rotating DVD 100 with the light beamB for recording (the light beam B changes in intensity according to thecontents of recording information to be recorded) and records recordinginformation, which includes the information table TBa, on thecorresponding position on the DVD 100.

At this point, an actuator (not shown) for changing the position of anobject lens (not shown) for condensing the light beam B on aninformation track is driven by a pickup servo signal Ssp which isoutputted from the servo control section 42 under the control of thesystem control section 54 via the bus 55, so that a displacement of thefocusing position of the light beam B is eliminated relative to theposition of the information track where recording information should berecorded on the DVD 100.

In parallel with the operations of the constituent members, the systemcontrol section 54 prevents illegal reproduction and illegal recordingin the above manner and exercises control over the operations of theconstituent members via the bus 54.

Referring to the flowchart of FIG. 14, the following will summarizerecording performed in the recorder RC configured thus. The followingwill discuss recording performed when the switch 48 is connected to thedescrambler circuit 51 and recording information outputted as thedigital output signal Sd from the set-top box STB is recorded on the DVD100.

As shown in FIG. 14, in the recording of Embodiment 2, identificationinformation ID in the sector information ST is first detected fromrecording information inputted as the digital output signal Sd (stepS40).

Then, information in the sector information ST reproduced subsequentlyto the identification information ID is read to confirm whether theinformation is encrypted or not (step S41). When the information is notencrypted (step S41; NO), the process advances to step S43. When theinformation is encrypted (step S41; YES), the encryption is decrypted inthe descrambler circuit 51 (step S42) and recording information in theinputted digital output signal Sd is read while being decrypted (stepS43).

Subsequently, it is monitored all the time whether the reading ofnecessary information is completed or not during the reading of therecording information (step S44). When the reading is not completed(step S44; NO), the process returns to step S40 to reproduce recordinginformation in the subsequent sector information ST. When the reading ofnecessary information is completed (step S44; YES), the read recordinginformation is decoded in the descrambler circuit 51 and so on (stepS45) and the watermark detecting section 53 detects watermarks WM frominformation corresponding to the sector information ST included in thedecoding signal Sdx (step S46).

Then, it is confirmed whether the watermarks WM are detected or not(step S47). When the watermarks WM are not detected (step S47; NO), itis decided that recording information in the currently inputted digitaloutput signal Sd is recorded as it is and the process advances to theprocessing of step S57 (described later). When the watermarks WM aredetected (step S47; YES), region information is acquired which is storedin the system control section 54 and corresponds to the recorder RC(step S48), the contents of the first information table TB1 a or TB1 band the second information table TB2 are extracted from the watermarksWM detected in step S46 and are decrypted in the watermark detectingsection 53, and the reproducible region information PA and therecordable region information RAA are obtained as stream regioninformation (step S49).

Subsequently, based on the obtained recordable region information RAA,it is confirmed whether recording information in the digital outputsignal Sd can be recorded or not in regions indicated by the regioninformation obtained in step S48, that is, in countries or regions wherethe recorder RC should be installed and operated (step S50). Then, whenthe recordable region information RAA indicates that the installationregion of the recorder RC is not a region where recording informationcan be reproduced (step S50; NO), the recording information cannot berecorded on the DVD 100 by the recorder RC. Thus, the recorder RC isreset to forcefully terminate the recording (step S52), a warning thatthe recording cannot be performed is issued on a display (not shown) andso on (step S53), and a series of recording operations is completed.

When it is decided in step S50 that the recordable region informationRAA indicates that the installation region of the recorder RC is aregion where recording information included in the digital output signalSd can be recorded (step S50; YES), confirmation is made on the contentsof the copy control information CCI corresponding to a country or regionwhere the recorder RC is installed, in the copy control information CCIin the first information table TB1 a or TB1 b detected from the digitaloutput signal Sd (step S51).

Then, when the copy control information CCI decided in step S51 has thecontents of copy prohibition information for prohibiting the subsequentcopying and recording of the recording information or the contents ofcopy prohibition information indicating that the corresponding recordinginformation is originally prohibited strictly from being copied orrecorded (step S51; NO), it is decided that recording information in thedigital output signal Sd should not be recorded on the DVD 100, therecorder RC is reset to forcefully terminate the recording of therecorder RC (step S52), and a warning that the recording informationcannot be recorded is issued on the display (not shown) and so on (stepS53), and a series of demodulating operations is completed.

When the contents of the copy control information CCI decided in stepS51 indicate that the corresponding recording information can berecorded on the DVD 100 only once in the region or indicate that thecopying of the corresponding recording information is not restricted inthe region (step S51; YES), it is confirmed whether or not the copycontrol information CCI decided in step S51 has contents indicating thatthe copying of the corresponding recording information is not restrictedin the region (step S54).

Then, when it is decided in step S54 that the contents of the copycontrol information CCI indicate that the copying of the correspondinginformation is not restricted in the region (step S54; YES), the processadvances to step S57 (described later) to start recording the recordinginformation on the DVD 100.

When the contents of the copy control information CCI do not indicatethat the copying of the corresponding recording information is notrestricted in the region (step S54; NO), it is confirmed again whetherthe contents of the copy control information CCI decided in step S51indicate that the corresponding recording information can be copied andrecorded only once on the DVD 100 in the region (step S55). When therecording information can be copied and recorded more than once, thatis, when the recording information can be copied and recorded two ormore times (step S55; NO), the process advances to step S57 (describedlater) to start recording the recording information on the DVD 100.

Further, when the contents of the copy control information CCI decidedin step S51 indicate that the corresponding recording information can becopied and recorded only once on the DVD 100 in the region (step S55;YES), information in the information table TBa is rewritten (step S56),and the process advances to step S57 (described later).

The processing of step S56 will be discussed in detail. In theprocessing of step S56, first, when recording is permitted in thedecision of step S54, the first information table TB1 b and the secondinformation table TB2 are superimposed for the information table TBasuperimposed on the corresponding recording information. In this case,of the recording region information RA in the first information tableTB1 b, the recording region information RA is set at “1b” whichcorresponds to a country or region where the recorder RC is installed isset at “1b”.

Second, only when recording information permitted to be recorded (stepS51; YES) can be copied and recorded only once in a country or regionwhere the recorder RC is installed, the contents of the copy controlinformation CCI corresponding to the country or region where therecorder RC is installed is rewritten from “copying and recording can beperformed only once” to “subsequent copying and recording areprohibited”, of the copy control information CCI in the correspondingfirst information table TB1 b.

Moreover, thirdly, in order to specify a country or region wherereproduction can be performed on the recording information having beenrecorded on the DVD 100 by the recorder RC, the values of thecorresponding region reproducible region information PA1 to PA8 arerewritten, which are included in the reproducible region information PAin the first information table TB1 b, by using values corresponding tothe region recordable/reproducible region information RP1 to RP8 whichare included in the post recording reproducible region information RP(FIG. 2(c)) in the second information table TB2.

When the rewriting of the contents of the information table TBa iscompleted, the copy control information IF in the sector information STis set after recording by using the contents of the copy controlinformation CCI included in the rewritten information table TBa (stepS57).

Subsequently, it is confirmed whether the currently performed recordinghas any of the picture quality degradation and it is confirmed whetherdecoded (step S45) recording information includes any one of the firstpost conversion first copy control information XCI1 and the first postconversion second copy control information XCI2 or the second postconversion first copy control information XXI1 and the second postconversion second copy control information XXI2 (step S58).

When the recording has any of the picture quality degradation andincludes the post conversion copy control information (step S58; YES),the contents of the picture quality degradation and the post conversioncopy control information corresponding to a region indicated by theregion information are set as copy control information to be included inrecording information outputted as the insertion signal Sis (step S59)and recording information is recorded on the DVD 100 (step S60) whileincluding the information set until then (steps S56, S57, and S59).

When it is decided in step S58 that the recording of FIG. 14 does notinclude any of the picture quality degradation or the decoded (step S45)recording information does not include any one of the post conversioncopy control information (step S58; NO), the process advances to therecording of step S60 (recording not including the copy controlinformation).

Then, it is confirmed whether recording information is completelyrecorded or not on the DVD 100 (step S61). When the recording is notcompleted (step S61; NO), the process returns to the processing of stepS40 and recording information to be subsequently recorded is recorded.When recording information to be recorded is completely recorded (stepS61; YES), a series of recording operations is terminated.

When picture quality is not degraded in the recording of Embodiment 2,the first copy control information CCI1 and the second copy controlinformation CCI1 in recording information demodulated in the set-top boxSTB are included as they are in the recording information having beenrecorded on the DVD 100.

The operations of the DVD player P included in the informationtransmission system SS of Embodiment 2 are completely the same as theDVD player P of Embodiment 1 in that recording information recorded onthe DVD 100 by the recorder RC is reproduced while reproduction isrestricted according to the information table TBa superimposed on therecording information (however, any of the picture quality degradationis not performed). Thus, the detailed explanation is omitted.

As described above, according to the operations of the informationtransmitter M, the set-top box STB, the recorder RC, and the DVD playerP of Embodiment 2, distributed recording information includes the firstpost conversion first copy control information XCI1 and the first postconversion second copy control information XCI2 or the second postconversion first copy control information XXI1 and the second postconversion second copy control information XXI2, and the first copycontrol information CCI1 and the second copy control information CCI2.When picture quality and so on are degraded during the demodulation ofrecording information in the set-top box STB or during recording in therecorder RC, post conversion copy control information corresponding to adegradation in the picture quality and so on is superimposed on thedemodulated or recorded recording information. When picture quality andso on are maintained during the demodulation or recording of therecording information, the first copy control information CCI1 and thesecond copy control information CCI2 are superimposed on the recordinginformation during demodulation or after recording, and then, theinformation is outputted. Thus, it is possible to change the contents ofcopying restriction according to a change in picture quality and so onduring demodulation or recording, thereby effectively protecting thecopyright of the recording information.

Further, when the picture quality and so on of recording information aredegraded and demodulation or recording is performed, post conversioncopy control information is superimposed with more moderate restrictiveconditions of copying. Thus, in the case of recording informationdegraded in picture quality and so on during demodulation or recording,copying is restricted under moderate restrictive conditions of copying.In the case of recording information not being degraded in picturequality and so on during demodulation or recording, copying can berestricted by the original first copy control information CCI1 andsecond copy control information CCI2. Hence, the restrictive conditionsof copying can be made moderate or strict according to the quality ofrecording information, so that it is possible to widely distributerecording information while adjusting interests between the creator andthe user of the recording information and it is possible to widely andproperly restrict the copying of the recording information, therebyeffectively protect the copyright of the recording information.

(III) Embodiment 3

Referring to FIG. 15, the following will describe Embodiment 3 which isanother embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 15 is a diagramshowing the detailed configuration of an information table according toEmbodiment 3.

In Embodiment 1 and Embodiment 2, the information table TB or TBaincludes the first information table TB1 and the second informationtable TB2 (in case of Embodiment 1) and the first information table TB1a or TB1 b and the second information table TB2 (in case of Embodiment2). In Embodiment 3 described below, a first information table TB1 (TB1a or TB1 b) is divided into two with correlation for preventingtampering and is superimposed in recording information. Embodiment 3 isdiscussed below with an example where the first information table TB1 bof Embodiment 2 is divided.

The configuration and operations of an information transmission systemaccording to Embodiment 3 are completely the same as those of theinformation transmission system SS according to Embodiment 2 except forthe format of the used information table. Thus, the detailed explanationthereof is omitted.

Of information tables used in the information transmission system ofEmbodiment 3, a first information table is embedded in sectorinformation ST as a watermark WM while being divided into a subinformation table TB1 ba and a sub information table TB1 bb as shown inFIG. 15.

As shown in FIG. 15(a), the sub information table TB1 ba includes, fromthe first byte, header information HD (1 byte) which is similar to thatof the first information table TB1 b, first copy control informationCCI1 (1 byte), second copy control information CCI2 (1 byte), first postconversion first copy control information XCI1 (1 byte), first postconversion second copy control information XCI2 (1 byte), second postconversion first copy control information XXI1 (1 byte), and second postconversion second copy control information XXI2 (1 byte). In addition,the sub information table TB1 ba includes a first hash value H1 (1 byte)which is a hash value obtained by converting the contents of the subinformation table TB1 bb by using a predetermined hash function when bitvalues (a second hash value H2 described later) included in the secondbyte of the sub information table TB1 bb (described later) are all setat “0”, and includes error correction information ECC (8 bytes) used forerror correction when the sub information table TB1 ba is detectedduring the distribution or recording of recording information.

As shown in FIG. 15(b), the sub information table TB1 bb includes, fromthe first byte, header information HD (1 byte) indicating that thesubsequent information is included in the sub information table TB1 bb,a second hash value H2 (1 byte) having the contents described later,auxiliary information R describing no significant information,reproducible region information PA (1 byte) similar to that of the firstinformation table TB1 b, recordable region information RAA (1 byte),recording region information RA (1 byte), viewable period information PT(16 bytes), recordable period information RT (16 bytes), time-shiftableperiod information (1 byte) TT, and error correction information ECC.

At this point, a hash value obtained by converting the sub informationtable TB1 ba by using the hash function is described as the second hashvalue H2. When the first hash values H1 included in the first subinformation table TB1 ba are all “0”, it is not possible to correctlyprevent tampering by using the hash values. Thus, the auxiliaryinformation R is set at a proper value to prevent all the first hashvalues H1 from being set at “0”.

According to Embodiment 3 where the first information table isconstituted of the sub information tables TB1 ba and TB1 bb configuredthus, for example, during demodulation in the set-top box STB, thecontents of the sub information table TB1 ba are first recognized in aCPU 25. Subsequently, when the first hash values H1 included the subinformation table TB1 ba are not “0”, it is recognized in a set-top boxSTB that the sub information table TB1 bb is present in addition to thesub information table TB1 ba, and then, the sub information table TB1 bbis detected. At this point, when the detected sub information table TB1bb is illegally tampered, the contents of a first hash value H1 obtainedby converting the contents of the tampered sub information table TB1 bbby using the hash function are different from the contents of the firsthash value H1 to be included in the sub information table TB1 ba (thatis, a first hash value H1 corresponding to the sub information table TB1bb not being tampered). Hence, it is possible to detect in the CPU 25whether the contents are tampered or not when the sub information tableTB1 bb is detected.

On the other hand, when the previously detected sub information tableTB1 ba is illegally tampered, the contents of a second hash value H2,which is obtained by converting the contents of the tampered subinformation table TB1 ba by using the hash function, are different fromthe contents of a second hash value H2 to be included in the subinformation table TB1 bb (that is, a second hash value H2 correspondingto the sub information table TB1 ba not being tampered) Hence, it ispossible to recognize whether the previously detected sub informationtable TB1 ba is tampered or not when the sub information table TB1 bb isdetected.

When tampering is detected on the sub information table TB1 ba or TB1bb, demodulation on recording information in the set-top box STB isforcefully terminated at that point, thereby preventing demodulation onillegally tampered recording information.

Further, also during recording in the recorder RC, it is similarlydetected in a system control section 54 whether the sub informationtable TB1 ba or TB1 bb is tampered or not, thereby preventing illegalrecording on a DVD 100.

Furthermore, also during reproduction in a DVD player P, it is similarlydetected in a system control section 7 whether the sub information tableTB1 ba or TB1 bb is tampered or not, thereby preventing illegalreproduction from the DVD 100.

As described above, according to the format of the first informationtable of Embodiment 3, in addition to the effect obtained by theoperations of the information transmission system SS described inEmbodiment 2, stream region information and copy control information CCIthat correspond to a piece of recording information are superimposed onthe recording information separately as the sub information tables TB1ba and TB1 bb so as to have a correlation using the predetermined hasvalue between the stream region information and the copy controlinformation CCI. Hence, even when only the recording information isillegally tampered (that is, the correlation is changed) after beingdistributed, it is possible to positively detect the illegal tamperingand it is possible to manage and control, for each region, permission ofcopying and permission to record or reproduce the recording informationafter the copying, thereby effectively protecting the copyright of therecording information.

(IV) Embodiment 4

Referring to FIG. 16, the following will describe Embodiment 4, which isanother embodiment of the present invention.

FIG. 16 is a flowchart showing information reproduction of Embodiment 4.In the flowchart of FIG. 16, the same processing as the flowchart ofFIG. 6 is indicated by the same step number and the detailed explanationthereof is omitted.

In Embodiments 1 to 3, when any of the picture quality degradation isperformed during any one of the reproduction, demodulation, andrecording of recording information, post conversion copy controlinformation is superimposed on recording information so as to havemoderate restrictive conditions of copying according to a pattern of thepicture quality degradation and for each region, and the recording isperformed. In Embodiment 4 below, the present invention is not appliedto a degradation of picture quality and so on but to a change in theconfiguration of image information included in recording information.

In the following explanation, “a change in the configuration” of imageinformation specifically means that an image included in the imageinformation is scaled up or down and another image information, e.g.,advertisement information corresponding to the contents of anadvertisement to be directed to the user is superimposed on the imageinformation.

Further, Embodiment 4 will be discussed below by using the informationreproduction of Embodiment 1 as an example.

Regarding post conversion copy control information superimposed onrecording information in Embodiment 4, when image information includedin the recording information is scaled up or down, restrictiveconditions of copying are set moderate for recording information whichincludes the image information having been scaled up or down, ascompared with restrictive conditions of copying for recordinginformation which includes image information not being scaled up ordown.

To be specific, when “copy prohibited” is indicated by the restrictiveconditions of copying for recording information which includes imageinformation having not being scaled up or down, the post conversion copycontrol information is superimposed beforehand on recording informationrecorded on a DVD 1 or recording information distributed by aninformation transmission system SS so that “copy permitted only once” or“copy permitted” is indicated by the restrictive conditions of copyingfor the recording information which includes image information havingbeen scaled up or down.

When advertisement information is superimposed on image informationincluded in the recording information, restrictive conditions of copyingare set moderate for a part of recording information including imageinformation with superimposed advertisement information, as comparedwith restrictive conditions of copying for recording informationincluding image information with no superimposition.

To be specific, when “copy prohibited” is indicated by the restrictiveconditions of copying for recording information including imageinformation with superimposition, the post conversion copy controlinformation is superimposed beforehand on recording information recordedon the DVD 1 or recording information distributed by the informationtransmission system SS so that “copy permitted” is indicated by therestrictive conditions of copying for the recording informationincluding image information with superimposition.

At this point, a specific method of superimposition is the same asEmbodiments 1 to 3 and thus the detailed explanation thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 16, in the information reproduction of Embodiment 4,steps S1 to S16 of the information production of Embodiment 1 areperformed first, which are shown in FIG. 6. At this point, postconversion copy control information set in the processing of step S16includes copy control information, which includes restrictive conditionsof copying for the image information having been scaled up or down orthe advertisement information having superimposition.

When the corresponding post conversion copy control information issuperimposed in the processing of step S16, it is confirmed whetherscaling or the superimposition of the advertisement information shouldbe performed or not (step S70). When the processing is actuallyperformed (step S70; YES), necessary scaling or the superimposition ofthe advertisement information is performed (step S71) and then theprocess advances to step S17 to perform the same processing as theinformation reproduction of Embodiment 1.

When it is decided in step S70 that scaling or the superimposition ofthe advertisement information is not performed (step S70; NO) theprocess advances to step S17 without changing the contents of copycontrol information, and the same processing is performed as theinformation reproduction of Embodiment 1.

As described above, according to the information reproduction ofEmbodiment 4, in addition to the effect of the information reproductionof Embodiment 1, it is possible to reproduce and output recordinginformation after changing restriction conditions for copying when animage is scaled up or down during reproduction, thereby restrictingcopying with a wider scope of application.

Further, even when an image is scaled up or down during reproduction andanother image is superimposed on the image having been scaled up ordown, it is possible to reproduce and output recording information afterchanging restrictive conditions for copying, thereby restricting copyingwith a wider scope of application.

Moreover, when the advertisement information is superimposed duringreproduction, copying is freely performed on a part of recordinginformation having the superimposed advertisement information. Thus, itis possible to reproduce recording information while restricting thecopying of recording information and widely distributing advertisementinformation.

(V) Embodiment 5

Referring to FIGS. 17 to 19, the following will describe Embodiment 5which is another embodiment of the present invention.

Embodiments 1 to 4 discussed a combination of region information andcopy control information. Embodiment 5 below will discuss the case whererecording information including only the copy control information of thepresent invention is recorded on the DVD.

FIG. 17 is a diagram showing the specific contents of informationrecorded on the DVD. FIG. 18 is a block diagram showing the schematicconfiguration of an information recording apparatus (DVD recorder) whichrecords recording information on the DVD according to Embodiment 5. FIG.19 is a flowchart showing a recording operation performed in the DVDrecorder.

Referring to FIG. 17, the following will first describe a recordingformat of information recorded on a playback only DVD according toEmbodiment 5.

First, regarding overall recording information on the DVD of Embodiment5, a physical recording format is the same as Embodiment 1 shown in FIG.1 and thus the detailed explanation thereof is omitted.

Referring to FIG. 17, the following will specifically discuss thecontents of an information table according to Embodiment 5 that isincluded in each piece of sector information ST in recording informationaccording to Embodiment 5.

As shown in FIG. 17, the information table TBc includes, from the firstbyte, first copy control information CCI (1 byte) which is copy controlinformation used for recorded recording information when an imageincluded in recording information to be recorded on the DVD is recordedon the DVD without degradation, second copy control information XCI (1byte) which is copy control information used for recorded recordinginformation when an image included in recording information to berecorded on the DVD is subjected to picture quality degradation at afirst step before being recorded on the DVD, third copy controlinformation XXI (1 byte) which is copy control information used forrecorded recording information when an image included in recordinginformation to be recorded on the DVD is subjected to picture qualitydegradation at the second step before being recorded on the DVD,auxiliary information R (36 bytes) including no significant information,and error correction information ECC (17 bytes) used for errorcorrection when the information table TBc is detected during therecording of recording information.

The following will discuss specific values of the copy controlinformation of FIG. 17. In the case where the image is recorded on theDVD without picture quality degradation, when the image is subjected tothe picture quality degradation at the first step before being recordedon the DVD, or when the image is subjected to picture qualitydegradation at the second step before being recorded on the DVD, totalprohibition on copying after recording causes the first copy controlinformation CCI, the second copy control information XCI, and the thirdcopy control information XXI to have a value of “copy prohibited.” Inthe picture quality control (including no degradation of picturequality), when copying can be performed only once after recording, thefirst copy control information CCI, the second copy control informationXCI, and the third copy control information XXI have a value of “copypermitted only once.” Further, in the picture quality control (includingno degradation of picture quality), when copying can be freely performedafter recording, the first copy control information CCI, the second copycontrol information XCI, and the third copy control information XXI havea value of “copy permitted”.

Referring to FIGS. 18 and 19, the following will describe theconfiguration and operations of the recorder which records recordinginformation on the DVD according to Embodiment 5. The recordinginformation is inputted with the superimposed information table TBchaving the format of FIG. 17.

In FIG. 18, the same constituent members as the recorder RC (FIG. 13) ofEmbodiment 2 are indicated by the same reference numerals and thedetailed explanation thereof is omitted.

As shown in FIG. 18, a recorder RCC of Embodiment 5 is constituted of anA/D converter 50 similar in configuration to that of the recorder RCdescribed in Embodiment 2, a watermark detecting section 53, a systemcontrol section 54 serving as changing means and selecting means, ascrambler circuit 45, a signal processing circuit 44, an LD driver 43, aservo control section 42, a pickup 40 serving as recording means, and aspindle motor 41. In addition, the recorder RCC is constituted of awatermark inserting section 60 and an image encoder 61.

Operations will be discussed below.

When recording information, which is inputted with the superimposedinformation table TBc having the format of FIG. 17, is recorded on a DVD100, the DVD 100 is first rotated at a predetermined rotational speed bythe spindle motor 41 in the recorder RCC. The spindle motor 41 is drivenin response to a spindle control signal Ssb.

Then, the A/D converter 50 digitizes analog information Sai inputtedfrom the outside as the recording information, generates a digital inputsignal Sdin, and outputs the signal to the watermark inserting section60 and the watermark detecting section 53.

Hence, under the control of the system control section 54 via a bus 55,the watermark detecting section 53 detects the information table TBcincluded in the digital input signal Sdin and outputs the contents tothe system control section 53.

Under the control of the system control section 54 via the bus 55, thewatermark inserting section 60 inserts copy control information, whichhas the contents applied to the recording information having beenrecorded on the DVD 100, into the digital input signal Sdin as awatermark, generates an insertion signal Sis, and outputs the signal tothe picture quality encoder 61.

Then, the picture quality encoder 61 performs compression on theinsertion signal Sis according to MPEG just like the MPEG encoder 49,performs-picture quality degradation according to the contents of theinformation table TBc detected by the watermark detecting section 53,and outputs the signal to the scrambler circuit 45 as a processingsignal See.

Subsequently, under the control of the system control section 54 via thebus 55, the scrambler circuit 45 encrypts recording information includedin the processing signal See (including the information table TBc havingthe contents applied to the recording information having been recordedon the DVD 100) by using a predetermined encryption key, generates anencryption signal Ssx, and outputs the signal to the signal processingcircuit 44.

Thereafter, with the same operations as the signal processing circuit44, the LD driver 43, the pickup 40, and the servo control section 42 inthe recorder RC of Embodiment 2, the encrypted recording information isrecorded on the DVD 100.

In parallel with the operations of the constituent members, the systemcontrol section 54 exercises control over the operations of theconstituent members via the bus 55.

Referring to FIG. 19, the following will summarize information recordingperformed in the recorder RCC of Embodiment 5.

As shown in FIG. 19, in the information recording of Embodiment 5, whenthe analog information Sai including the information table TBc isinputted from the outside, it is first confirmed whether the analoginformation Sai is encrypted or not (step S80). When the information isnot encrypted (step S80; NO), the process advances to step S82. When theinformation is encrypted (step S80; YES) the encryption is decrypted(step S81) in a decrypting section (not shown in FIG. 18), and thedecrypted recording information is captured (step S82).

Then, it is confirmed whether the capturing is completed or not (stepS83). When the capturing is not completed (step S83; NO), the series ofcapturing operations is continued. When the capturing is completed (stepS83; YES), the captured recording information is decoded (step S84) by adecoder (not shown in FIG. 18), the contents of the information tableTBc are decrypted in the watermark detecting section 53 (step S85), andthe contents are outputted to the system control section 54.

Subsequently, it is confirmed whether a watermark is normally detectedor not (step S86). When a watermark is not detected (step S86; NO), theprocess advances to step S80 to perform decryption again. When awatermark is normally detected, (step S86; YES), it is confirmed whether“copy prohibited” is indicated or not by the contents of another copycontrol information which is encrypted and inserted in addition to theinformation table TBc, out of detected watermarks (step S87).

When the contents of another copy control information indicates “copyprohibited” (step S87; YES), it is decided that recording cannot beperformed soon on the DVD 100, and the user is notified of the decisionon a display. (not shown) (step S88). Thereafter, the recording ofEmbodiment 5 is completed. Then, the recording of Embodiment 5 iscompleted.

On the otherhand, when it is decided in step S87 that the contents ofanother copy control information does not indicate “copy prohibited”(step S87; NO), the contents of the first copy control information CCIin the information table TBc are confirmed (step S89).

When it is decided that copying can be performed without picture qualitydegradation (step S89; CF), the process advances to the processing ofstep S93. In the case of “copy permitted only once” without picturequality degradation (step S89; CO), the watermark inserting section 60inserts another watermark indicating “copy prohibited” (step S92).Thereafter, recording is performed by the image encoder 61 and so onwithout picture quality degradation (step S93).

Then, it is confirmed whether an operation for indicating the stop ofrecording is performed by an operation section or not (not shown in FIG.18) (step S94). When the operation is not performed, the process returnsto step S80 to continue to record recording information on the DVD 100.When an instruction is provided to stop recording (stepS94; YES), therecording of Embodiment 5 is completed.

When it is decided in step S89 that copying without picture qualitydegradation is prohibited (step S89; NC), the contents of the secondcopy control information XCI in the information table TBc are confirmed(step S90).

When it is decided that copying can be performed after the first picturequality degradation (step S90; CF), the process advances to theprocessing of step S96. In the case of “copy permitted only once” afterthe first picture quality degradation (step S90; CO) the watermarkinserting section 60 inserts another watermark indicating “copyprohibited” (step S95). Thereafter, the image encoder 61 performs thefirst picture quality degradation (step S96) and the process advances tothe processing of step S93 and later.

When it is decided in step S90 that copying is prohibited after thefirst picture quality degradation (step S90; NC), the contents of thethird copy control information XXI in the information table TBc areconfirmed (step S91).

When it is decided that copying can be performed after the secondpicture quality degradation (step S91; CF), the process advances to theprocessing of step S98. In the case of “copy permitted only once” afterthe second picture quality degradation (step S91; CO), the watermarkinserting section 60 inserts another watermark indicating “copyprohibited” (step S97). Thereafter, the second picture qualitydegradation is performed by the image encoder 61 (step S98) and theprocess advances to the processing of step S93 and later.

On the other hand, when it is decided in step S91 that copying isprohibited even after the second picture quality degradation (step S91;NC), recording cannot be performed on the DVD 100 in any case. Thus, thewarning of step S88 is issued and the recording of Embodiment 5 iscompleted.

As described above, according to the operations of the recorder RCC ofEmbodiment 5, recording information is recorded on the DVD 100 whilepicture quality is controlled according to the contents of theinformation table TBc inputted from the outside. Thus, it is possible torecord the recording information on the DVD 100 with some kind ofpicture quality while protecting copyright corresponding to therecording information by controlling picture quality.

(VI) Embodiment 6

Referring to FIGS. 20 and 21, the following will describe Embodiment 6which is another embodiment of the present invention.

In Embodiment 6 below, the present invention is applied to the functionsof a recorder and a DVD player which are included in an informationtransmission system similar to the information transmission system SS(the information transmission system SS constituted of a videotransmitter M, a transmitter TX, antennas ATT and ATR, a communicationssatellite SR, a set-top box STB, a television set TV, a recorder RC, anda DVD player P) of Embodiment 2. Since the recorder and the DVD playerof Embodiment 6 are similar in configuration to the recorder RC and theDVD player P, the detailed explanation thereof is omitted. The followingwill discuss only the operations (processing) of the recorder and theDVD player according to the flowcharts shown in FIGS. 20 and 21. FIG. 20is a flowchart showing the recording performed in the recorder ofEmbodiment 6. The same processing as recording in the recorder RC ofEmbodiment 2 shown in FIG. 14 is indicated by the same step number andthe detailed explanation thereof is omitted. FIG. 21 is a flowchartshowing reproduction in the DVD player of Embodiment 6. The sameprocessing as reproduction in the DVD player P of Embodiment 2 (1) shownin FIG. 6 is indicated by the same step number and the detailedexplanation thereof is omitted.

In the foregoing embodiments, for example, when picture quality and soon are changed in the recorder RC in Embodiment 2, copy controlinformation or the like is changed in the recorder RC and is recorded ona DVD with recording information changed in picture quality and soon. Inthe DVD player P for reproducing the recording information, areproduction format of the recording information is controlled by usingthe copy control information or the like recorded with the recordinginformation. In contrast to Embodiment 2, according to Embodiment 6described below, when picture quality and so on are changed in recordinginformation, a conversion flag serving as change information is added tothe recording information in the recorder. The change informationindicates a change in picture quality and so on. In the DVD player, copycontrol information is changed according to the contents of the addedflag and is reproduced with the recording information.

Referring to FIG. 20, the following will first describe specificprocessing of recording performed by the recorder of Embodiment 6.

As shown in FIG. 20, in the recording of the recorder according toEmbodiment 6, the processing of steps S40 to S57 is first performed asin the case of the recorder RC of Embodiment 2.

Subsequently, it is confirmed whether the currently performed recordinghas any of the picture quality degradation and it is confirmed whetherdecoded (stepS45) recording information includes any one of the firstpost conversion first copy control information XCI1 and the first postconversion second copy control information XCI2 or the second postconversion first copy control information XXI1 and the second postconversion second copy control information XXI2 (step S58).

When the recording has any of the picture quality degradation andincludes post conversion copy control information (step S58; YES), aconversion flag is added to recording information to be recorded on theDVD (step S100), the conversion flag indicating any of the picturequality degradation and the contents of the picture quality degradation(that is, whether picture quality degradation at the first step orpicture quality degradation at the second step). Then, the recordinginformation is recorded on the DVD 100 while including the informationset (added) until then (steps S56, S57, and S100) (step S60).

When it is decided in step S58 that the recording of FIG. 14 does notinclude any of the picture quality degradation or the decoded (step S45)recording information does not include any one of the post conversioncopy control information (step S58; NO), the process advances to therecording of step S60 (recording not including the copy controlinformation).

Then, it is confirmed whether recording information is completelyrecorded or not on the DVD 100 (step S61). When the recording is notcompleted (step S61; NO), the process returns to the processing of stepS40 to record recording information to be subsequently recorded. Whenrecording information to be recorded is completely recorded (step S61;YES), a series of recording operations is completed.

When picture quality is not degraded in the recording of Embodiment 2,the first copy control information CCI1 and the second copy controlinformation CCI1 in recording information demodulated in the set-top boxSTB are included as they are in the recording information having beenrecorded on the DVD 100.

Referring to FIG. 21, the following will describe reproduction in theDVD player according to Embodiment 6. The DVD player reproducesinformation from the DVD 100 where recording information and so on arerecorded by the recorder.

As shown in FIG. 21, in the reproduction in the DVD player according toEmbodiment 6, the processing of steps S1 to S14 is performed, which aresimilar to those of the DVD player P in Embodiment 2(1).

Subsequently, when it is decided in step S12 that the contents of thecopy control information IF corresponding to a region indicated byregion information match with the contents of the region copy controlinformation ACCI corresponding to the region (step S12; YES), it isconfirmed whether recording information has the conversion flag or not(step S101). When the recording information has the conversion flag(step S101; YES), picture quality degradation is performed on reproducedrecording information before reproduction. Thus, the contents of thepicture degradation recognized from the contents of the conversion flagand the post conversion copy control information corresponding to theregion indicated by the region information (that is, any one of thefirst post conversion first copy control information XCI1 and the firstpost conversion second copy control information XCI2 or the second postconversion first copy control information XXI1 and the second postconversion second copy control information XXI2) are set by a watermarkinserting section 16 a and an adder circuit 17 a as copy controlinformation to be included in recording information outputted as ananalog output signal Sao (step S102). Subsequently, reproduction isperformed to output the decoded (step S6) recording information as theanalog output signal Sao (step S17).

When it is decided in step S101 that the decoded (step S6) recordinginformation does not include any conversion flags (step S101; NO), theprocess advances to the reproduction (reproduction not including postconversion copy control information) of step S17.

Subsequently, the processing of step S18 is performed, which is similarto that of Embodiment 2(1), and the reproduction is completed.

When picture quality degradation is not performed during reproduction inEmbodiment 6, the first copy control information CCI1 and the secondcopy control information CCI1 having been recorded in the DVD 100 areincluded as they are in the reproduced recording information.

As described above, according to the processing of the recorder and theDVD player in Embodiment 6, when picture quality and so on are degraded(or are not degraded) during the recording of distributed recordinginformation in the recorder RC, the conversion flag having the contentscorresponding to the presence or absence of the picture qualitydegradation and so on is superimposed on the recorded recordinginformation, and then the information is outputted. Thus, it is possibleto change the contents of the subsequent copying restriction accordingto a change in picture quality and so on during recording, therebyeffectively protecting the copyright of the recording information.

Further, when recording information with degraded picture quality and soon is recorded, the conversion flag indicating the contents issuperimposed. Thus, the restrictive conditions of copying are changedaccording to the quality of recording information, so that it ispossible to widely distribute recording information while adjustinginterests between the creator and the user of the recording informationand it is possible to widely and properly restrict the copying of therecording information, thereby effectively protect the copyright of therecording information.

Embodiment 6 described that the conversion flag is added to recordinginformation during recording in the recorder. Additionally, a similarconversion flag may be added when the picture quality degradation isperformed during demodulation in the set-top box.

(VII) Embodiment 7

Referring to FIG. 22, the following will describe Embodiment 7 which isanother embodiment of the present invention. FIG. 22 is a flowchartshowing reproduction in a DVD player according to Embodiment 7. The sameprocessing as reproduction in the DVD player P of Embodiment 2(1) shownin FIG. 6 is indicated by the same step number and the detailedexplanation thereof is omitted.

The foregoing embodiments described that recording information recordedon a DVD or broadcasted recording information has only one kind ofpicture quality. In addition, the present invention may be applied tothe case where recording information recorded on a DVD or broadcastedrecording information includes two or more kinds of recordinginformation with different picture qualities.

That is, two or more kinds of recording information are broadcasted withdifferent picture qualities in the broadcasting stage or the stage ofrecording on a DVD. Alternatively, during recording, copy restrictioninformation having the contents corresponding to the two or more kindsof recording information is set for the recording information in thebroadcasting stage or the recording stage, and the recording informationis broadcasted (or recorded).

Then, when airwaves are received or the DVD is reproduced, theprocessing of steps S1 to S14 is performed first as in the DVD player Pof Embodiment 2(1).

Subsequently, when it is decided in step S12 that the contents of copycontrol information IF corresponding to a region indicated by regioninformation match with the contents of region copy control informationACCI corresponding to the region (step S12; YES), the picture quality ofrecording information to be reproduced is selected in a set-top box forreceiving broadcasting or the DVD player for reproducing recordinginformation (step S103). When the selected picture quality is highquality among the two or more kinds of picture qualities (step S104;YES), a preparing operation is performed to detect and reproduce thehigh-quality recording information from the DVD (step S105). Then,reproduction is performed so that the decoded (step S6) recordinginformation is reproduced in the prepared reproduction format and isoutputted as an analog output signal Sao (step S17).

When it is decided in step S104 that the selected picture quality is nothigh picture quality (step S104), a preparing operation is performed todetect and reproduce low-quality recording information from the DVD(step S106). Then, reproduction is performed so that the decoded (stepS6) recording information is reproduced in the prepared reproductionformat and is outputted as the analog output signal Sao (step S17).

Subsequently, the processing of step S18 is performed as in Embodiment 2(1) and the reproduction is completed.

According to Embodiment 7 described above, even when recordinginformation recorded on the DVD or broadcasted recording informationincludes two or more kinds of recording information with differentpicture qualities, it is possible to properly protect the copyright ofthe recording information as in Embodiments 1 to 6.

The following configuration is also applicable: programs correspondingto the flowcharts of FIGS. 6, 12, 14, 16, 19, 20, 21, and 22 arerecorded on a recording medium including a flexible disc or a hard disc,and the programs are read and executed by a microcomputer and so on, sothat the microcomputer and so on are caused to act as a system controlsection 7 in the DVD player P, a CPU 25 in a set-top box STB, and asystem control section 54 in a recorder R or RCC.

As a matter of course, the present invention is not limited to theforegoing embodiments and thus various modifications may be made withinthe scope of claims.

For example, in the recorder R (information recording apparatus) and theDVD player P (information reproducing apparatus) according to theforegoing embodiments, when picture quality is degraded before recordinginformation is reproduced, copy control information included inreproduced recording information is set according to post conversioncopy control information included in original recording information.Copy control information included in recording information may be setbeforehand according to copy control information, which is used beforepicture quality degradation, and a format of the picture qualitydegradation. To be specific, for example, when recording informationincludes copy control information which has high-definition (HD)contents indicating prohibition of copy (Never Copy), the recorder R(information recording apparatus) may prohibit the recording informationfrom being recorded on the DVD 1 with maintained high-definitionquality, and the recorder R may permit the recording information to berecorded on the DVD 1 after being converted down (the quality isreduced) to standard (SD). The copy control information included in therecording information recorded on the DVD 1 may be set at, e.g.,prohibition of replication and recording (No More Copy).

In the case of the DVD player P (information reproducing apparatus),when the DVD 1 is reproduced on which high-definition (HD) contentsserve as recording information including copy control informationindicating prohibition on copy, the copy control information included inoutputted recording information may be set at “replication prohibited”during reproduction with the same quality, that is, high-definitionquality. When the recording information is converted down to standardbefore being reproduced and outputted, the copy control informationincluded in the outputted recording information may be set as, forexample, copy control information permitting only one replication (OneMore Copy).

1. An information generating apparatus comprising adding device foradding change copy control information and normal copy controlinformation to an information signal, the change copy controlinformation being used when a changing operation for changing quality ofthe information signal is performed, the normal copy control informationbeing used when the changing operation is not performed.
 2. Theinformation generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thechanging operation is quality degradation for degrading the quality ofthe information signal.
 3. The information generating apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the information signal includes at leastimage information, and the changing operation is enlargement for scalingup an image corresponding to the image information or a reduction forscaling down the image.
 4. The information generating apparatusaccording to claim 3, wherein the changing operation is enlargement or areduction and superimposition of another image information on the imageinformation having been subjected to enlargement or a reduction.
 5. Theinformation generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thechanging operation is superimposition of advertisement information onthe information signal.
 6. The information generating apparatusaccording to claim 1, wherein the changing operation is a reducingoperation for reducing an amount of data of the information signal. 7.The information generating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein thechange copy control information includes a restrictive condition forcopying, the condition being more moderate than a restrictive conditionfor copying of the normal copy control information.
 8. The informationgenerating apparatus according to claim 1, wherein the adding deviceembeds the change copy control information and the normal copy controlinformation in the information signal by using digital watermarking. 9.An information reproducing apparatus for reproducing an informationsignal, to which change copy control information and normal copy controlinformation are added, the change copy control information being usedwhen a changing operation for changing quality of the information signalis performed, the normal copy control information being used when thechanging operation is not performed, the apparatus comprising: changingdevice for performing the changing operation, and setting device for,when the changing operation is performed and the information signal isreproduced, setting copy control information included in the reproducedinformation signal at a value indicated the change copy controlinformation.
 10. (canceled)
 11. The information reproducing apparatusaccording to claim 9, wherein when the information signal is reproducedwithout the changing operation, the setting device sets, as the contentsof the normal copy control information, the contents of the copy controlinformation included in the reproduced information signal.
 12. Aninformation reproducing apparatus for reproducing an information signaladded with change information indicating whether a changing operationfor changing quality of the information signal is performed or not,change copy control information being used when the changing operationis performed and normal copy control information being used when thechanging operation is not performed, reproducing apparatus comprising:detecting device for detecting the change information, deciding devicefor deciding whether the quality is changed or not according to thedetected change information, and setting device for setting, when thequality is changed, copy control information included in the reproducedinformation signal at a value indicated the change copy controlinformation.
 13. An information recording apparatus for recording aninformation signal, to which change copy control information and normalcopy control information are added, the change copy control informationbeing used when a changing operation for changing quality of theinformation signal is performed, the normal copy control informationbeing used when the changing operation is not performed, on aninformation recording medium, the recording apparatus comprising:changing device for performing the changing operation, selecting devicefor selecting a kind of the changing operation capable of recording theinformation signal on the recording medium, and recording device forrecording the information signal on the recording medium, theinformation signal having been changed in quality by the selectedchanging operation.
 14. An information recording apparatus for recordingan information signal, to which change copy control information andnormal copy control information are added, the change copy controlinformation being used when a changing operation for changing quality ofthe information signal is performed, the normal copy control informationbeing used when the changing operation is not performed, on a recordingmedium, the recording apparatus comprising: changing device forperforming the changing operation, first recording device for recordingthe information signal changed in quality on the recording medium, andsecond recording device for recording change information on therecording medium, the change information indicating that the quality ofthe information signal is changed.
 15. An information generating methodcomprising: an adding process of adding change copy control informationand normal copy control information to the information signal, thechange copy control information being used when a changing operation forchanging quality of the information signal is performed, the normal copycontrol information being used when the changing operation is notperformed.
 16. An information reproducing method for reproducing aninformation signal, to which change copy control information and normalcopy control information are added, the change copy control informationbeing used when a changing operation for changing quality of theinformation signal is performed, the normal copy control informationbeing used when the changing operation is not performed, the reproducingmethod comprising: a changing process of performing the changingoperation, and a setting process of, when the changing operation isperformed and the information signal is reproduced, setting copy controlinformation included in the reproduced information signal at a valueindicated the change copy control information.
 17. An informationreproducing method for reproducing an information signal added withchange information indicating whether a changing operation for changingquality of the information signal is performed or not, change copycontrol information being used when the changing operation is performedand normal copy control information being used when the changingoperation is not performed, the reproducing method comprising: adetecting process of detecting the change information, a decidingprocess of deciding whether the quality is changed or not according tothe detected change information, and a setting process of setting, whenthe quality is changed, copy control information included in thereproduced information signal at a value indicated the change copycontrol information.
 18. An information recording method for recordingan information signal, to which change copy control information andnormal copy control information are added, the change copy controlinformation being used when a changing operation for changing quality ofthe information signal is performed, the normal copy control informationbeing used when the changing operation is not performed, on aninformation recording medium, the recording method comprising: achanging process of performing the changing operation, a selectingprocess of selecting a kind of the changing operation capable ofrecording the information signal on the recording medium, and arecording process of recording the information signal on the recordingmedium, the information signal having been changed in quality by theselected changing operation.
 19. An information recording method forrecording an information signal, to which change copy controlinformation and normal copy control information are added, the changecopy control information being used when a changing operation forchanging quality of the information signal is performed, the normal copycontrol information being used when the changing operation is notperformed, on a recording medium, the recording method comprising: achanging process of performing the changing operation, a first recordingprocess of recording the information signal changed in quality on therecording medium, and a second recording process of recording changeinformation on the recording medium, the change information indicatingthat the quality of the information signal is changed.
 20. A copyrightprotecting method for protecting a copyright of an information signal byadding, to the information signal, copy control information forrestricting copying of the information signal, wherein the copy controlinformation includes change copy control information being used when achanging operation for changing quality of the information signal isperformed and normal copy control information being used when thechanging operation is not performed.
 21. An information generatingprogram causing a generating computer included in an informationgenerating apparatus to act as adding device for adding change copycontrol information and normal copy control information to aninformation signal, the change copy control information being used whena changing operation for changing quality of the information signal isperformed, the normal copy control information being used when thechanging operation is not performed.
 22. An information reproducingprogram for a reproducing computer included in an informationreproducing apparatus for reproducing an information signal, to whichchange copy control information and normal copy control information areadded, the change copy control information being used when a changingoperation for changing quality of the information signal is performed,the normal copy control information being used when the changingoperation is not performed, the reproducing program causing thereproducing computer to act as: changing device for performing thechanging operation, and setting device for, when the changing operationis performed and the information signal is reproduced, setting copycontrol information included in the reproduced information signal at avalue indicated the change copy control information.
 23. An informationreproducing program for a reproducing computer included in aninformation reproducing apparatus for reproducing an information signaladded with change information indicating whether a changing operationfor changing quality of the information signal is performed or not,change copy control information being used when the changing operationis performed and normal copy control information being used when thechanging operation is not performed, the reproducing program causing thereproducing computer to act as: detecting device for detecting thechange information, deciding device for deciding whether the quality ischanged or not according to the detected change information, and settingdevice for setting, when the quality is changed, copy controlinformation included in the reproduced information signal at a valueindicated the change copy control information.
 24. An informationrecording program for a recording computer included in an informationrecording apparatus for recording an information signal, to which changecopy control information and normal copy control information are added,the change copy control information being used when a changing operationfor changing quality of the information signal is performed, the normalcopy control information being used when the changing operation is notperformed, on an information recording medium, the recording programcausing the recording computer to act as: changing device for performingthe changing operation, selecting device for selecting a kind of thechanging operation capable of recording the information signal on therecording medium, and recording device for recording the informationsignal on the recording medium, the information signal having beenchanged in quality by the selected changing operation.
 25. Aninformation recording program for a recording computer included in aninformation recording apparatus for recording an information signal, towhich change copy control information and normal copy controlinformation are added, the change copy control information being usedwhen a changing operation for changing quality of the information signalis performed, the normal copy control information being used when thechanging operation is not performed, on a recording medium, therecording program characterized by causing the recording computer to actas: changing device for performing the changing operation, firstrecording device for recording the information signal changed in qualityon the recording medium, and second recording device for recordingchange information on the recording medium, the change informationindicating that the quality of the information signal is changed.
 26. Aninformation recording medium, wherein the information generating programof claim 21 is recorded so that the program is read by the generatingcomputer.
 27. An information recording medium, wherein the informationreproducing program of claim 22 is recorded so that the program is readby the reproducing computer.
 28. An information recording medium,wherein the information reproducing program of claim 24 is recorded sothat the program is read by the recording computer.
 29. A recordingmedium comprising an information recording area for recording aninformation signal added with change copy control information used whena changing operation for changing quality of the information signal isperformed and normal copy control information used when the changingoperation is not performed.
 30. The recording medium according to claim29, wherein the information signal further added with change informationindicating whether quality of an information signal is changed or not.31. An information recording medium, wherein the information reproducingprogram of claim 23 is recorded so that the program is read by thereproducing computer.
 32. An information recording medium, wherein theinformation reproducing program of claim 25 is recorded so that theprogram is read by the recording computer.